Hour of the Swan
by Kaito Lune
Summary: COMPLETE! The story starts spinning with shattered glass. Who's pulling the strings if Drosselmeyer isn't the one writing the story? All they know is that they mustn't stop dancing their way through the story. Cannon couples, like it or not!
1. Prologue: Once Upon a Time: A New Tale

**A/N: I just finished watching Princess Tutu. I absolutely found it adorable but the ending was bittersweet. I'd suggest you watch all the episodes before reading this since it takes place only a few months after the ending of the show (episode 26). This is just a prologue for the rest of the story. I don't know how long it will be but I hope to give Fakir and Ahiru a happy ending instead of a bittersweet one. Expect FakirXAhiru and MythoXRue. Well, I hope you enjoy this. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Princess Tutu. I only own the plot line, a few tales, and a character or two.**

**Princess Tutu**

**Hour of the Swan**

Prologue

"Once Upon a Time" A New Tale

Once upon a time, there was a man who wrote stories that came to life. He loved playing tragedies, so out of fear, the people cut off his hands before killing him. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief but remained unaware that his stories would continue even after his death . . .

Once upon a time, there was a monstrous raven and a prince. Their battle took them outside the story, where the prince sealed away the raven by shattering his heart.

Once upon a time, there was a duck who wanted to help a prince with no heart. She made a deal with a mysterious person to turn into a girl and collect the shattered heart for him. The duck loved the prince but wasn't allowed to tell him her feelings or she would disappear in a flash of light.

The duck turned girl clashed with a useless knight and a raven princess for the shattered heart before they all realized they were part of a story themselves and that their endings were all to be filled with tragedy. As they began working together, the four fought against the raven as well as their destinies for a happy ending. In the end, the raven princess and prince slain the monster raven, guided by the useless knight that found a talent for writing stories, and the duck girl turned back into a duck. The prince and raven princess disappeared and the useless knight and duck remained, side by side, thinking that their story had ended . . . but that was only act one.

~X~*~X~

Once upon a time, there was a mirror said to show the truth to all those who seek it in the mirror's reflection. A demon came across this one day and said to himself, "What fun this would be if I could use this." The demon sealed himself into the mirror and manipulated the mirror to show both truth and lies that no one wanted to hear. "See the grief on the faces," the demon laughed to himself. He kept himself amused until one day, a king came and sealed the mirror away so that it could cause no more trouble.

Once upon a time, there was a young girl who loved stories. She loved them so much that she read and spun them until she couldn't distinguish reality from fantasy. For this, her village shunned her and the girl grew lonely and miserable, so she dived deeper into her stories that she loved so dear, only to be lost in them forever. One day, she happened upon a mirror in a story that she explored. Not knowing of the demon sealed inside of it, she approached the mirror, asking herself why she felt so alone.

"It's because you are different," answered the demon. "No one loves you. You find yourself as a freak and so do others. They all hate you and want you to suffer."

Out of rage, the girl shattered the mirror with a chair into fourteen pieces. In a flash of light, they disappeared and shattered the demon's soul. The girl was left to wander alone through her stories, promising vengeance.

~X~*~X~

_For those children, gather 'round as I weave a tale of sorrow all over again._

~X~*~X~

_For those children who hate tragedy, gather round as I weave a true ending for the bittersweet tale of "The Prince and the Raven"._

Prologue: End

**Okay, before I get any farther I want to point some things out. First: for those of you who watch the sub or dub, these are the names I'm using while the ones in parenthesis are the other names that they are known by:**

**Ahiru (Duck)**

**Fakir (Fakia)**

**Mytho (Mute)**

**Rue (Ruu)**

**Lillie (Ririe)**

**Pique (Pike)**

**I think that's it for names. Okay, a few more things I want to say: the tale with the demon and the girl is an original by me that is slightly based off of **_**The Snow Queen.**_** I had to do something with that story since I saw the play based off of it ****and I just rediscovered the story. Drosselmeyer will play a roll in this along with Uzura but, their rolls will be slightly less . . . um . . . You'll find that out in the first chapter. Anyway, please read, review, and enjoy!**


	2. Act 1: My Wish: A Duck's Hope

**Princess Tutu**

**Hour of the Swan**

Act 1:

"My Wish" A Duck's Hope

A warm and sunny day, that's what the people of Kinkan saw. By the lake, a boy in his teens sat on the dock in a rocking chair. His dark hair was drawn back into a small pony tail. He wore a plain white button up shirt and brown pants. Stopping his writing for a minute, he took a glance at the duck that was swimming by the dock, just sitting and staring at the water. It had always been like this; whenever the boy had time between his own studies and other chores, he would come to the lake to write and meet the duck. For a long time, he had hoped to weave a story about her, turn her back into human but the words never came or never seemed right.

"Ahiru," he sighed to himself. "Why can't I write a story for you?"

The duck turned to look up at him when he had said her name. The boy's gaze had been up towards the blue sky; he was completely unaware of her staring at him. Ahiru sighed in a quiet quack before diving down into the water. _It's always been the same, _she thought to herself. _It's been months and Fakir has been trying to write a story. I wish I could help him, but since I'm a duck, all I can do is quack and keep him company. Ever since I gave up being Princess Tutu and gave Mytho his heart back, I've only been a duck. I chose this but I just don't like not being able to talk to him. I can only dance to convey feelings, not words. I guess I'll never get the chance again though._

Back on the surface, Fakir turned back to his work and looked at the quill in his hand and down at the blank page. He could only write for Ahiru but the mental blockage had been too much. Had his ancestor, Drosselmeyer, had this much trouble when writing his stories? At that name, he clenched his grip around the quill and pad. _I won't play god with those around me._

Giving up again, he looked towards the sky in hopes that inspiration would hit him like a bolt out of the blue.

~X~*~X~

"It's because you are different. No one loves you. You find yourself as a freak and so do others. They all hate you and want you to suffer."

"No! No! NO!" screamed the girl. The girl of twelve hid her crying violet eyes in fists of her mouse brown hair. "You lie!"

"I don't lie. I am the mirror of truth. I showed you want you wanted: the truth. Is there something your going to do about it?"

The girl screamed in despair and anger. _"No one loves you." _She grabbed a chair and smashed the mirror with it. _"They all hate you and want you to suffer."_ The bits of glass began to glow yellow or purple before in a flash of light, it all disappeared, leaving the girl alone in confusion and angry tears.

~X~*~X~

As Fakir watched the sky, it began turning cloudy and the wind began roaring past him. He shielded his eyes against the storm. "Boy," said a voice before he looked up. All he saw was a shimmer of light before there was a shearing pain in his right eye. It hurt so bad that he cried out in pain, clutching his eye and went tumbling into the water. His body didn't register the cool water, just the pain and his consciousness slipping.

Ahiru didn't know of the passing storm above the water but a shimmer of something caught her attention. It was glowing bright orange. When the duck got closer, she noticed that it was a pendant in the shape of a heart with an orange stone inset in gold. She looked at it as it sunk with curiosity. _I wonder who lost it? _Ahiru thought to herself.

The next thing she knew, the fish around her stopped moving, bubbles stopped rising, and the pendant stopped sinking; it was as if the world around her had been frozen in time. This wasn't the first time. "Mr. Drosselmeyer?" she shouted.

A _rata-tat-tat _of a drum roll met her ears before from the shadow below her, a face peered up at her. Ahiru quacked in surprise and began swimming up. On the surface of the water, the same face peered at her with a manic grin. He was Drosselmeyer, Ahiru knew that. His wide and round orange eyes sparkled dangerously. Ahiru stopped right in mid swim so that she could look up at the face.

"Wh-what are you doing here, Mr. Drosselmeyer?" she asked. "Are you here to claim your tragedy?"

"Heh heh," Drosselmeyer laughed. "My only way to write stories beyond the grave was taken down, remember, little duck?"

Ahiru then eyed him confused. She saw the machine dismantled by Fakir after their battle. "But what are you doing here, then?" she asked.

"Deliver a story to you, little Ahiru," the mad man smiled wickedly. "Not even I know how this story is going to turn out. I will find this interesting." He extended a hand and the small pendant that she had seen floating in the water was in his hand. "See this? It will allow you to turn back into a human."

"Really?"

"Really, zura," answered the voice of Uzura. The small doll with the drum played a drum roll while saying, "Really zura" in time with her noise. Drosselmeyer had her quiet down before continuing.

"Yes, it will but the circumstances are different since a new story out of my hands is being written," he smiled wickedly.

With that, Ahiru became hesitant, unsure of taking the pendant. She didn't want anyone else getting pulled into a story like they had been apart of. For all she knew, it could have been a tragedy and someone could get hurt because of her decision. The crazed writer's grin only widened.

"I'd suggest you make up your choice," he suggested. "My descendent is going to drown if you don't hurry." Finishing his offer, his image disappeared and the pendant floated down.

_Drown?_ Ahiru wasn't sure if Drosselmeyer was telling the truth but she didn't care if it was false or truth. She wasn't going to take chances. She began swimming off to the docks as quickly as she could. When she found him, surely enough he was struggling with something in his eye and his breath was about to give way. The duck made no hesitation to try to help him up but then remembered she was a duck. She couldn't help him but she gave it her all.

_Come on, Fakir!_ she encouraged, pushing his arm. _Come on! What's going on? Come on! Fakir! Fakir! If only I was just plain old human Ahiru! _In a sudden burst of light, the duck had found that as she pushed up the two reached and broke the surface. The sky had stayed dark during those long minutes but the wind had settled down a little. The two gasped for breath. "Fakir! Are you all right?" she asked, slapping his back as he coughed up water. "Do I have to do CPR? Fakir?"

"I'm all right," he answered looking at her. Suddenly, his face turned bright red and he turned his face away. Ahiru gave him a quizzical look.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Y-y-you're h-human," he stuttered, not looking back at her. "W-when were you a-able t-to do that?"

Ahiru blinked for a minute, trying to make sense of what he was talking about. When she rubbed the side of her head, it felt smooth like skin and felt wet hair. That finally made everything click into place. She looked at her hands and gave a cry of surprise. She had turned into a naked girl!

"You done yet, idiot?" he asked, unbuttoning his shirt and handing it back to her without looking back. Ahiru took it with a red face. Fortunately, it would be long enough to reach down to half way down her calves. Inwardly sighing, Ahiru was glad he was taller than her.

When she was done buttoning it up, her fingers fell on something hard. Fakir helped her out of the water. He too noticed that she was staring at the necklace that was around her neck. "Where'd you get that?" he asked.

Ahiru shook her head. "I don't know," she answered. "Drosselmeyer . . . It was Mr. Drosselmeyer! He gave it to me! He's back. Fakir, I didn't take it from him but it still appeared around my neck."

Fakir's face grew hard. "He still has a plan with us," he said. "What is it? Well, we should figure that out when we get back to the house and get you dressed."

~X~*~X~

A white haired preteen stood on the balcony. A bad feeling had began to plague him only an hour ago. His princess, a girl the same age as he was with dark hair and maroon eyes, approached him with a concerned look. "What is it, Mytho?" she asked, gently grabbing an arm.

"Something bad is going to happen," he said, still looking at the sky. The girl- Rue followed his gaze. The sky was a bright blue and nearly cloudless but in the distance, she thought she could see a blanket of black clouds were coming towards the kingdom. In the distance, the couple could have swore that they had heard a _craw craw_ of a crow.

Act 1: End.

**Well, here we have it. Yeah for awkward scenes with Ahiru and Fakir! I know that Mytho's name is really something else, I'd rather not use it since we all know him fondly as Mytho and that was what Rue called him forever, so "old habits die hard" and besides, I don't think Mytho would mind always being known by that name. :P**


	3. Act 2: Mirror Shards: The Swan's Return

**A/N: Whoops, I forgot the disclaimer! I don't own Princess Tutu. I only own the plot line, a few tales, and a character or two. Thanks to James Birdsong and BlueForestAngelCat for reviewing. ^^ I find it kind of funny that Mytho was the only one who didn't know Ahiru was Tutu. By the end, I think he should have figured it out since Rue called Ahiru as a duck "Ahiru" and Mytho had seen Tutu turn into a duck. In this story, I had him put two and two together before the main storyline. ^^;**

**Princess Tutu**

**Hour of the Swan**

Act 2:

"Mirror's Shard" Return of the Swan

Fakir and Ahiru managed to make it to Charon's house without being spotted, which had been weird. Charon was in the back, repairing something. They could hear the blacksmith's banging of the hammer against the heated metal as it smooth it out. Fakir kept rubbing his right eye as if it irritated him. Ahiru looked at him from behind as he searched for clothes. "Why didn't you swim to the surface of the lake, Fakir? Did something happen?" she asked.

He didn't answer her question but then began to inquire her about her run in with Drosselmeyer. "What did he say exactly?" he asked, handing her a pair of pants and a dry shirt.

"Well," Ahiru began, sitting down on the bed and placing the clothes in her lap. "He stopped time before handing me this pendant. He didn't give any details about the story. In fact, he said that he wasn't the one even writing the story."

The boy gave her a strange look. "Not writing the story?" he asked skeptically.

Ahiru nodded. "Yeah, he said that he was just delivering the story. Then he said you were drowning and I went to go get you," she explained.

Fakir seemed satisfied with it but leaned against the dresser with a hard look and crossed arms. "I highly doubt that Drosselmeyer isn't writing the story somehow," he said, more to himself than anyone. "I took down the machine though, so how can he write the story? Does he have a second one?" Snapping out of his thought process, he left the room and closed the door behind him so Ahiru could dry off and change.

As Ahiru got dressed, she looked at her pendant. How had it gotten on her neck? She didn't remember putting it on. Had she mistakenly passed through it as she was on her way to save Fakir? Had Drosselmeyer wrote for it to be on her neck? _But he couldn't be able to write the story since the machine is taken down, _she thought. _Then why was he delivering a story?_ She bonked her head to scatter the thoughts since it began giving her a headache. Whatever was going on, she'd just have to figure it out as she went.

She dressed in the clothes that Fakir had handed her which, oddly, were smaller and fit her. She blinked but pushed it out of her mind as she went to meet Fakir in the kitchen who was starting the fire. Ahiru stopped for a second as she saw a look on his face that seemed . . . really weird for him to be wearing. It looked as if he was sad and lonely. _Why is he sad? _Ahiru thought. She wanted to ask but was tongue tied for a minute.

After a minute of him not noticing her, she finally managed to say something. "Fakir?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

At that moment, he looked towards her and the expression vanished. His face had been the ever straight face that he had always worn. He asked with a half frown, "What do you mean?"

"You . . . you looked sad and I was just wondering what was wrong," Ahiru answered.

"Moron," he said with a shake of his head. "Nothing's wrong. Why would I be sad? Frustrated, yes but sad? What the heck made you think that?"

"But- Uh, on never mind," Ahiru said, making a face and turning slightly red.

Her facial expression made him chuckle to himself. "Moron," he said again, standing up and bringing a hot pot of milk out and some glasses. The two sat at the table, unsure of what to do now. "So, since you're human again, what do you plan on doing?"

Ahiru didn't even take a chance to think about it. "I would love to go back to the ballet school, though I think Professor Neko wouldn't be very happy that I've been missing for months," she answered. "This time, I'll work harder! I want to be a great ballerina like you, Mytho, Rue, and what Tutu was." She took a swig of the milk before burning her tongue. "Gah! Quack! That's hot!" In a glitter of gold and red light, Ahiru turned back into a duck inside the bundle of clothes. The glass landed on the ground with the contents spilling on the floor.

Fakir tried to suppress a chuckle. Somethings definitely wouldn't change. Quacking still from her burnt tongue, Ahiru wrestled herself out of the clothes and rushed to the sink to try and cool off her mouth, not thinking about what would happen when she touched the water. Fakir intercepted her before she could even make it across the kitchen. "Idiot, don't you remember what happens when you touch water when you're a duck?" he reminded her.

Ahiru quacked in response but settled down, turning bright red from embarrassment. _That's right, _she remembered. _How could I forget? I'm such an idiot._

~X~*~X~

Rue and Mytho walked the kingdom streets. Birds had began flying lower than they normally did and pack animals were unwilling to follow their owners wishes. The sky had been dark since the morning and the winds occasionally whipped up and scattered various scarfs from merchant stands and the animals in that area ran from there as quickly as possible. This only added to Rue and Mytho's cautiousness.

Suddenly, from the sky, a cloud of black came flying down. As the cloud dived down quicker, they saw that the cloud was really ravens making a dive towards the street. People screamed as they ran for cover. Mytho pulled out his sword and began slashing at any raven that had tried attacking him and Rue. The attack only lasted for a minute before they backed off. Everyone looked out from their hiding spots to see someone walking down the street.

It was a girl with dark brown hair that was held back in a dark blue ribbon and violet eyes. Over her light blue dress was a traveling cloak, signifying that she was a visitor. The ravens cawed and rested on various objects as if they were waiting for something. The girl eyed the princess. "You weren't originally part of this story," she stated. "Who are you?"

"Rue," the girl answered but she kept her eyes narrowed.

"Why are the raven's here?" asked Mytho, keeping his sword brandished. "Do they follow you?"

The girl ignored the prince's questions and her eyes filled with anger. She furiously waved her hand and the ravens cawed in response, flying towards the two and hellbent on killing her. Some soldiers had ran in to help Mytho get ride of the ravens. When they were done tangling with them, they all looked towards the girl. "Why are you trying to kill the Princess?" demanded a soldier angrily.

The girl simply growled. "Back out of the story now," she warned. The knights and Mytho ran in to capture her but she disappeared in a flash of lightning.

They looked around wildly, trying to figure out where the girl had disappeared to. Guessing she wasn't coming back, the guards relaxed and went to help the frightened people set back up the merchant stands. Sprinkles of water began falling from the sky as a low rumble filled the sky.

Mytho walked over to Rue. "Are you okay?" he asked. The dark haired girl had been shaken and was on the ground. She nodded.

"I'm more worried about you, Mytho," she answered getting up. She noticed a cut on his arm and began taking care of it. Her mind began going wild. _Story? What did she mean about a story? I thought Drosselmeyer couldn't write anymore? What do I have to play in this story?_

Mytho noticed her faraway look and gently grabbed her hand. "Rue," he said. "Maybe we should go see if Fakir and Ahiru know anything."

"O . . . okay," Rue answered quietly.

In the shadows, no one noticed a pair of round orange eyes. No one even heard his voice either. "Hmm, dear Rue, dear Princess Kraehe, what roll do you have to play in this?" cackled the voice of Drosselmeyer. The next second, the eyes disappeared.

~X~*~X~

The next day, Ahiru woke up blinking and rubbed her eyes. She had moved into the dormroom she had used to use. With luck, she had been reenrolled in the ballet division of the Academy. She had barely escaped the onslaught of questions from her two old friends and roommates: Pique and Lillie. She knew she would get it ten fold on the way to school. Suddenly, the bell tolled. Ahiru gasped as she scrambled out of bed and got dressed as quickly as she could in her school uniform and rushed down the hall.

"How cruel!" she cried as she rushed to school. "On my first day back, Pique and Lillie don't even wake me up!" Accidently missing a step, she stumbled down the last three steps and fell right on her face. She groaned, cursed her laziness, and began rushing out of the dorm. "I'm late! Late! Late!"

"Ah! Not again!" cried a girl's voice from next to her. Ahiru looked to see a girl only a year older than her with blonde hair and green eyes running by. The girl noticed Ahiru. "Woke up late?"

"Yeah," answered the redhead. When the girl ran ahead of her, Ahiru looked down at her pendant that had began to glow a soft orange. She came to a stop and looked down at it. _What? _she wondered but when her mind suddenly flashed back to school, Ahiru cried out and began running down the street. She snuck into the dressing room, changed and tried sneaking into class without getting caught. Unfortunately, she didn't get as far as she wanted.

"Miss Ahiru," came the voice of the instructor, the humanoid cat. "Late on your first day?"

"Um, s-sorry Professor Neko . . ." she apologized quickly before falling in line with the other students.

"Miss Ahiru, if you're not going to take anything seriously, you shall be denoted down to the apprentice class and"- his face became deadly and scarily serious- "YOU WILL HAVE TO MARRY ME!" he threatened. Ahiru shrunk back a little, like she always used to. Even after months, Professor Neko had been obsessed with marriage.

A unfazed students, one of the few boys in the class, had enough nerve to blurt out, "But you already have a wife." Professor Neko turned his back, paled, and began grooming himself making mews of embarrassment.

Next thing she new, Lillie and Pique pulled her in line between them as their exercises began. "So, where have you been?" asked Pique. "You've been missing for months. Rumor has it was that you've been kidnapped by Senior Fakir."

"No, it wasn't like that," Ahiru began. Her mind began racing on what she was going to say to explain where she was. The redhead knew that telling them that she had turned into a duck after the Raven attack wasn't going to fly too well.

Even though Ahiru denied it, Lillie decided to push. "With Fakir? It'd be just like you to be kidnapped!" the blond exclaimed with sparkling eyes before growing a smiling suspicious look. "Or were you doing something scandalous with Fakir?"

"N-no," she began. "I wasn't with Fakir. I-I was out of town. My . . . my father had moved out of town and he wanted me to visit him." She tried her best to keep her poker face on but it was failing.

Lillie and Pique knew that she was lying through her teeth. "You _were_ with Fakir!" exclaimed Lillie. "I can smell the battle that is going to be waged! All the girls have their eyes on him since Mytho and Rue left. This is going to be amazing and epic! Good luck, Ahiru! Go for it and be the klutz you are and fail horribly!" Getting over zealous, the blond spun around and gave Ahiru a thumbs up and shoved her with a laugh. The girl tumbled into Pique and the girl behind her. Ahiru held back a quack.

The pile of three girls tried to pull themselves up but the ballet instructor was towering over them. The three untangled themselves and sat at attention as he gave the ordinary threat of marriage before going off and pulling a scratching board out of nowhere and began clawing at it furiously. "Miss Ahiru, you'll stay back and Miss Lillie and Miss Pique will help you! You're posture is horrible and balance is off!" he commanded, pausing for a second before continuing scratching the board.

Ahiru sighed as she pulled herself up and rested her head on the rail as she looked out the window. When looked out the window, she noticed that there was a blond girl in a uniform storming across the courtyard until she disappeared. Ahiru thought about it for a minute before continuing practicing before the ballet instructor shoved any more threats on her or held her back to mop up the room.

~X~*~X~

After classes, Ahiru entered the room ready for extra practice. Lillie tried to get more info on where she was but Pique had backed off. "You're butts sticking too far out," she observed and smacked it with a book she had brought. "Where ever you were, you weren't practicing with a mirror, were you?"

The books on her head fell off and Ahiru groaned. "You're way off balance, Ahiru," Pique stated, putting the books back on her head.

"Oh, that's our Ahiru," smiled Lillie patting her on her back, making her fall. "Clumsy as ever," she added.

"That was your fault," Pique sighed.

"No way!" Lillie exclaimed innocently.

The creak of the door alerted the three girls to someone entering the room. They looked towards the newcomer to see that it was Fakir. "Senior Fakir!" greeted the purple haired girl and blond.

"Fakir, what are you doing here?" asked Ahiru, getting up.

"I heard that you were practicing," he answered. "I thought I'd help."

"Uh, okay." She turned towards her two friends to noticed that they had vanished. Looking around, Ahiru noticed that Lillie had appeared behind her.

"Fight hard!" she wished her luck and shoved her into Fakir. The redhead suppressed a quack as she ran into the older boy who had caught her. Lillie and Pique had ran out of the room leaving the two alone.

Ahiru had been bright red and quickly apologized. "Lillie is always in high spirits," she explained but Fakir waved off her apology. His own face was slightly red but then, he began instructing her. After about an hour, Fakir decided to give her a break since she wasn't doing too well. While she rested and stretched, Fakir had drifted over to the piano. He pressed a key.

"Fakir," she said, "are you still having trouble writing that story?"

The boy looked back at her alarmed. "How did you-?" he began.

"You left the papers out and I got curious- ah!" The redhead cut herself off mid-sentence when she noticed the look on Fakir's face. It had been the same as before. "Hey, what's wrong?"

He didn't seem to hear her for a second. When he came back to reality, he shook his head. _What's up with me? _he thought. _Is that damn old man messing with me by writing these feelings into my mind?_ He felt Ahiru's worried gaze on his shoulders. "I think we've done enough," he said, hoping that it would at least reassure her that he was all right. "Go and get changed. I'll meet you in the front of the courtyard."

"Okay," Ahiru answered. When she had had that, he had already been outside in the hallway. Ahiru frowned. _Why is he acting all weird? _she wondered to herself. Getting to her feet, she finished stretching and walked out of the room towards the changing room. Her mind still throwing around possibilities of what could be bothering Fakir so much. _It's most likely he's trying to figure out what Mr. Drosselmeyer is doing, _she decided but for odd reason, the reason didn't seem to fit. During that entire time, she hadn't notice her pendant glowing.

~X~*~X~

Drosselmeyer chortled to himself. "Hmm, this is getting interesting," he said to himself. "Little duck, raven, the prince, and my own descendent are taking roles in the story. What is little Rue's roll? My descendent? It's been a long time since I've seen a story unfold where _I _don't even know the plot."

Uzura watched the gear with interest. Over her time with Drosselmeyer, she had taken a liking to stories. Even though she had an interest in the story, she had more of an interest in seeing her old friends. She began walking towards the hollowed out grandfather clock that the writer called the "loophole in time" but was stopped by a different doll. "Master Drosselmeyer doesn't want anyone stopping the story," he said, taking the young puppet away. Uzura kept her face straight and didn't fight as he dragged her away.

~X~*~X~

When Ahiru met up with Fakir at the front of the school, they began walking back to their dorms in silence. Suddenly, a girl cut the two off. She had been the girl that Ahiru had ran into on her way to school. When she was going to greet her, she stopped, noticing the angry look on her face. Ahiru watched her walk away and her pendant began glowing orange. She looked down at it in surprise.

A scream caught the two off guard. They ran to investigate it, assuming someone was in trouble. Finding out that it came from the art wing of the campus, the came upon a group of boys and girls that had came for later classes. There was a commotion that had them all talking. Unable to see into the room they had crowded outside of, they asked one of the students closest to him. "Someone destroyed the art room. I mean, literally destroyed it! The supplies were scattered, paint splattered everywhere, paper ripped to shreds!" the student went on and on about the damage that had been done.

"Who'd do such a thing though?" wondered Ahiru.

"It must have been Monet," suggested one of the students. "She had lost the art competition."

From there, a girl burst out. "She wouldn't have! Monet isn't like that," she shouted. "Monet isn't like that! But, she has been acting a bit strangely."

"Strangely?" asked Ahiru, walking up to the girl. She was shorter than her and she recognized her as the girl that had been possessed by Mytho's heart piece of obsession.

She nodded, pushing up her glasses. "Um, well," she answered, feeling uncomfortable in the limelight. "Monet absolutely loves painting and she's always been doing landscapes but ever since yesterday, she's been a bit moody. Today, we found out about the art contest results. The painting Monet had made, she poured her heart into it and she was sure that she was going to win but she ended up being in second to another student that had tormented her when she was younger. What was strange was her outburst, normally, she isn't an angry person. She would have burst into tears but instead, she splashed red paint on the canvas she was working on, yelled at the top of her lungs saying, 'I'm never good enough?' before storming off." The girl paused. "I'm worried about her."

"Maybe she's just going through a harder time?" suggested Ahiru, trying to put the girl at ease. "Everyone gets mad or depressed. Maybe you should try and comfort her?"

"I've tried," she answered, looking down. "When I tried to console her, she just shoved me aside and said really mean things. I just hope she's all right."

Ahiru fell silent, unsure what to say. Fakir, seeing the girl's face, said, "Let's get going. There's nothing we can do." He steered her away from the door.

After several minutes of thinking, she asked the older boy, "Do you think that Monet did that?" All Fakir did was shrug. He hadn't met her before nor did her name sound familiar. "I saw her this morning and my pendant glowed. I saw a blond haired girl storming away from the art department during class this morning and I also ran into her when I was running late to school. Do you think that it may have something to do with this pendant like with Mytho's heart shards?"

Fakir looked down. "I hope not," he admitted to himself a little too low to be audible to anyone less than a foot away from him. His look was sad again, Ahiru noted.

"Fakir, what's wrong?" she asked. The boy didn't answer before he walked towards the gate of his dorm. Ahiru went to follow him but it clanged shut, blocking her path from following him into the grounds. She watched until he disappeared into the building. Ahiru turned to walk towards her dorm right across from the boy's dorms but stopped. Something wasn't right with everything: Fakir acting weird, a girl acting strangely, Drosselmeyer giving her a pendant to turn into a girl, and the pendant glowing. _Maybe I can become Princess Tutu? _she wondered.

Deciding to check things out, she went back to the art department. It had settled down after an hour and people had left since the late classes had been canceled. Slowly approaching the room, she entered it. The room looked like a volley of angry ravens had torn everything apart and a furious tornado had swept through afterwards. Broken pencils, charcoal, and wood littered the floor. Paint had been splashed everywhere. Canvases had rips in them as if someone had used a knife to cut it up. Wood slabs from destroyed easels were scattered over overturned tables and chairs.

Her pendant began to glow, alerting her that what ever it had reacted to before was nearby. "What are you doing here?" challenged an infuriated voice from the door. Spinning around, Ahiru saw a girl about her age and only a half foot taller than she was holding a torch. Her long blond hair was pulled into a pony tail and her piercing green eyes glared daggers into the redhead. The light from the flame only made her seem a bit more scary. Ahiru recognized her as the girl that she had met that morning. The duck girl's pendant was glowing madly at that moment.

"Monet, right?" she asked carefully."What are you doing here? Have you been the one that destroyed the art room?"

"What's it to you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes dangerously. "Get out of here before I burn you alive."

Ahiru shivered. The girl meant her warning. She stepped sideways to allow Ahiru to get through but she didn't budge, even when her survival instincts told her to do so. "Why are you doing this?" she asked. Monet rolled her eyes and walked in for Ahiru. The redhead back away a few steps, thinking that she was going to follow through with her threat of burning her but instead, was grabbed by the arm and shoved out the door before Monet turned back around.

Ahiru spun around, wanting to do something. _If only I could become Princess Tutu! Maybe I could get her to understand . . . I wish I had her confidence and grace right now._

From the shadows, Drosselmeyer's eyes peered out at the scene. "Oh, poor little duck," he said in a manic chortle that was heard by no one. "What is a girl to do if she can't become Tutu?"

~X~*~X~

Fakir suddenly felt the rush of emotion. In his mind's eye, he could see Ahiru wanting to do something but her despair not able to do anything and wanting to try was compelling him to write like he did with the final battle with the monstrous raven. Quickly pulling out paper and a quill, he sat down while turning on a lamp and began scribbling words, hoping that they'd work and break whatever Drosselmeyer was trying to do.

"Her heart wanted to do something but her physical form kept her from doing it," he wrote. "Her wish was strong though. Somehow, the pendant reacted to it. Her hope filling the small heart around her neck began encasing her in a gold glow . . ."

~X~*~X~

_I am Princess Tutu, prima donna._ The tall figure approached Monet with grace, peace, and understanding radiating from her body. She looked to be at least sixteen baring a slight resemblance to the redhead that she had been but her hair had been cropped short and formed into white down framing her face. She wore a beautiful white tutu with a small orange hint to it. A gold pendant in the shape of a heart was wrapped around her neck in a gold band.

"Madam Monet," she began, bringing her hands into the air and twirling them around her head before holding out her hand to the girl with a warm smile, "will you dance with me?" Princess Tutu's smile was warm and there was no hostility.

Monet looked at her with hatred. "Are you here to stop me, just like that redhead?" she asked.

Princess Tutu didn't answer but kept her hand out. "I wish to dance with you," she said. "Maybe I could help you."

The blond seemed hesitant. Looking into her eyes, Monet finally complied. She walked forwards. Princess Tutu pulled out a fan and gave it a gentle sweep. A soft breeze flew from it and blew out the flame. She held out her hand again, making the same "will you dance with me" gesture she had done earlier. Monet took her hand and the two began dancing. Monet's expressed anger and resentment while Princess Tutu followed her lead with gentle movements.

Each of the other's movements conveyed silent words to the other. Monet placed her hands on her heart and before bring out her arms as if she was going to embrace someone. "I had poured my heart into my art ever since I was little, striving to become great. Art had always been my escape and helped me get through the torment I had gotten as a child."

Princess Tutu went on her tiptoes and did the same thing that Monet did, but hers was smoother and gentle. "It was good that you loved to do what you do, but why are you destroying your love?"

Monet threw her hands behind her and jumped. Landing, she began furiously spinning on her heels. "I entered a contest, hoping to be the best but only lost to the one person who put me down, tormented me. I was angry I lost. I hated her because she had tormented me, called me useless, talentless, a nothing. It wasn't fair that she won when I worked so hard and she won without doing anything."

The two danced closer and closer to each other. "I can see your rage," said Princess Tutu. "I can see your hate in your dance. This isn't the way. You shouldn't be destroying your art or others. They didn't do anything."

Monet struck a pose. "Are you saying that I shouldn't be angry?"

"No," responded the ballet dancer. Slowly, she crossed her arms in front of her before bringing them behind her, like she was a swan about to take off. "It's all right to be angry. Instead of destroying, why don't you create? Use your anger and express it the best way you know. Make beautiful art to express your feelings like how you're now expressing your feelings through dance. Become better by turning your hate into something beautiful."

Princess Tutu and Monet struck a final pose. Monet hovered her hands over her heart, cupping them as if she was trying to hold something there. The ballet dancer was on her tiptoes, balancing on her right foot as she leaned over and wrapped her arms around her as if to embrace. Her hands were positioned as if to hold the hate that would spill out her heart. "Just let go of your anger and become better," Tutu said.

The artist smiled and closed her eyes. "Yes," she answered, moving her arms away from her heart and pulling out a purple glowing ball taking the shape of a shard of glass. The girl collapsed onto the ground and Princess Tutu caught her.

"Miss Monet?" she asked, surprised that she had fainted. "Miss Monet?"

The shard of glass floated over them for a minute before it hovered towards the ballerina. It placed itself in the girl's hands as she stared down at it. "What's this?" she wondered. The purple glow was ominous and full of rage and hatred.

"The Mirror Shard of Hate," answered a voice from above. "I think I'll take that, _Princess _Tutu."

Act 2: End.

**Well, snap. What's to happen next? Who's the new comer? What does this person want? What are the Mirror Shards? Wait until next Act! This is my first time doing a **_**Princess Tutu-**_**esque "battle," so I tried to make it seem as close to the anime as possible. I actually found it refreshing that is wasn't an onslaught of punches or random attacks like I normally use for action but plan on **_**some**_** action like that since Mytho's in it. He isn't exactly a prima donna like Kraehe and Tutu. XD Random fun fact, Monet is slightly based off of a character in a book I read about a girl being teased all her life and majoring in an art and entering a contest where she poured her heart into and ended up losing to one of the people that had tormented her during childhood.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Reviews and criticism is a plus. I managed to finish planing this story and I hope to finish it along with my other story **_**Somebody's Hero **_**in about June. There's only fourteen chapters, so, I should finish it around then.**


	4. Act 3: Mysterious Silence: Red Knight

**A/N: Cliff hangers are annoying, aren't they? Well, looks like I'm coming back a little early with a new chapter! Here you go! Thanks to BlueForestAngelCat and James Birdsong once again for reviewing. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Princess Tutu.**

**Princess Tutu**

**Hour of the Swan**

Act 3:

"Mysterious Silence" The Girl Knight

"The Mirror Shard of Hate," answered a voice from above. "I think I'll take that, _Princess _Tutu."

The redhead turned her head to the source of the voice. A girl wearing a red skin tight dress stood behind her. Her dark red cape billowed behind her and a red had covered her long brown hair and shadowing her piercing purple eyes. On her waist was a black belt holding a fencing style sword. A pendant with a star-shaped dark pink gem embedded in it hung around her neck. The red figure pulled out her sword and rushed in.

Princess Tutu pulled her fan out and used it to block the blade. One moment later, Princess Tutu's and the new comer's necklaces glowed. The girl's eyes flew towards the ballerina's necklace and her eyes narrowed, growling. "You have a special part in this story, too?" she asked annoyed. She jumped back a little and snatched the glowing glass shard.

"Who are you?" asked Princess Tutu, holding her fan at the ready if she needed to protect herself and Monet from the sword. "Why are you attacking me and why do you want that 'Mirror Shard'?"

The girl pointed her sword at her and narrowed her eyes. "I am Silence," she answered. "I fight you for the Mirror Shards, Tutu, because that is my role in the story."

"The story? Is Drosselmeyer writing it?" Princess Tutu asked. "If he is, you can defy the story! It'll only end for tragedy for all of us. I know you don't want it."

Silence gave her a questioning look. "Drosselmeyer? Are you trying to distract me, Tutu?" The red knight shook her head in annoyance before pouncing. "Give me your necklace!"

Princess Tutu held up her fan to protect herself but Silence anticipated this and knocked it out of her hands and held the blade close to her throat. The ballerina froze, unsure what to do. The tip of the sword hovered only an inch from her throat and fear grasped her.

Suddenly, a new cry caught the attention of the two. Turning towards the new comers, they saw that it was a white haired boy holding a sword in front of him and a dark haired girl standing only a few feet behind him. "Mytho," whispered Princess Tutu thankfully. Her heart slightly ached. "Rue."

"Get away from Tutu," Mytho said. "Fight me."

Silence eyed both of them and glared at Rue. The princess slightly flinched, recognizing Silence. _She's the one who sent the ravens at me, _she thought. _Ahiru must have something to do with the story that she was talking about in Mytho's kingdom._

Silence turned towards the silver haired prince. "Fine," she answered, jumping towards the prince and the two began clanging their swords against each other. Attacks were blocked and thrown back. While this happened, Rue snuck around them to check up on Princess Tutu. "Ahiru, are you okay?" she inquired.

Princess Tutu nodded. "I don't know about Miss Monet, though," the ballerina answered, getting to her feet before looking towards the battle. Princess Tutu frowned. Forever, she had a problem with people fighting. Turning towards Rue, she said, "Watch over her please, Rue." Without waiting for an answer, Princess Tutu leaped towards the two. When she landed only a yard away from them, she twirling on her toes. Flowers around her began to spout out from under her and created two pillars, drawing the two combatants away from each other.

"Tutu?" asked Mytho, looking down at her in surprise.

Silence groaned as she glared daggers at the ballerina as she kept spinning. Finally coming to a stop, she bowed and looked up at the two. "You don't have to fight, Silence," she said, standing up straight. She twirled her hands above her head and held out her hand towards the red knight.

Silence waved her hand in front of her in refusal. "Fine, one is all I need," the knight declared. "Next time we meet, though, your necklace is mine. So is my role in this story." With that, she whipped her cape around her and disappeared.

The flower pillars gently lowered themselves and Mytho stepped off, sheathing his sword. He walked over to the ballerina and bowed his head. "Ahiru," Mytho greeted her.

Princess Tutu looked at him in surprise but bowed her head all the same. "Mytho," she greeted back. The redhead wondered how long he had known. _He probably figured it out after the battle,_ she reasoned. _That's just like Mytho. The same one I love. _Princess Tutu turned back into Ahiru, confirming what he had known. They went to join the unconscious artist and Rue. "I'm glad you're both here," she said happily. "And you came just in time. Thank you for helping me."

Mytho smiled at his friend and Ahiru looked down. Rue broke the pleasant silences. "You were able to turn into Princess Tutu, that means that a new story had begun, doesn't it? Do you or Fakir know anything about it?" she asked. "Where is Fakir anyway?"

"Fakir's back at the dormitory," Ahiru answered. At that moment, Monet began to stir. Blinking, she sat up and looked around.

"Ah! Miss Monet!" exclaimed the redhead. "You're okay! We've been worried."

The artist looked around curiously. "Where is that giant swan?" she asked. "Why do I feel different?" Snapping out of her thoughts, she noticed Rue and Mytho. "AH! L-Lady Rue! S-Sir Mytho! What are you doing here?"

They quickly explained that they had found her just when a great swan flew away. "I remembered that she said, 'I hope you can create beautiful art from now on.'" Ahiru added.

"It's late," stated Mytho. "What were you doing out here this late?"

Monet looked down shamefacedly. "How about we all head back to the dorms?" suggested Rue, getting up.

~X~*~X~

Deciding to meet at Charon's place, Mytho went to fetch Fakir and the girls went to Charon's place. When Mytho found him in his room, Fakir had head in his hands and was rubbing his right eye. Alerted to the creaking of the opening door, the dark haired boy looked up to see his old friend. He only gave him a surprised look but quickly set aside as he rubbed his eye. "Hey, Mytho," was all the boy said in greeting.

"Hello Fakir," the prince said in response. "What's wrong with your eye?"

Fakir stopped trying to calm his irritated eye and turned back to his friend. "Something's in it, that's all," he answered. "So, what are you doing here so early?"

"Ah! That's right," Mytho said. "Rue and Ahiru are waiting at Charon's for us." Mytho quickly explained what had taken place earlier.

Startled by what the boy relayed to him, Fakir jumped up and rushed passed him before he could finish. Blinking for two seconds, Mytho registered that Fakir had rushed past him and the boy ran after him.

_That idiot, _Fakir thought to himself as he rushed to his adopted father's house. _Why didn't she tell me what she was doing?_ Worry was in his eyes.

Slamming the door open, he shouted, "Ahiru!" He found Rue, Ahiru, and Charon were in the kitchen, sipping tea from hot mugs. Seeing that the redhead was all right, he sighed to himself. Mytho had finally caught up to him just as the teen had walked in to the house and gave Ahiru a hard look. "Don't go off on your own like that, idiot! What were you thinking?" he demanded, a little too harshly. He then added, "I was worried that something happened when Mytho told me what happened."

"Fakir, I thought I could do something," Ahiru answered, noticing the pain in his eyes. "I was able to, even! I turned into Princess Tutu!"

Fakir paid no mind to this. "Don't do it again," he said. "Tell me before you go off on your own."

Ahiru inflated her cheeks in annoyance. "I'm not a little girl," she argued but the two dropped it. "Besides, I'm fine."

Charon pulled out a cup of tea for his son. "How about you take a breather?" suggested the blacksmith. "They have something to explain, from what I hear. I'll be in the back if you need anything." With that, he left the kids in the room alone.

Mytho sat down next to Rue and took the cup of tea that Fakir denied. "A story has begun," Fakir said, cutting to the chase.

Rue nodded. "We know," she said before narrowing her eyes at Fakir. "Do you know anything about it?"

Ahiru noticed the tension between her and Fakir. "He didn't write it," she said, defending the older boy. "Drosselmeyer has something to do with it. He gave me this pendant that allowed me to turn into a girl and Princess Tutu."

"Drosselmeyer?" asked Mytho suddenly. "How could he be writing the story? Isn't the machine destroyed?"

Fakir nodded. "I checked yesterday and it was still in ruins, untouched."

"If that's the case, then who's writing it?" asked Rue. "Maybe there's another machine that Drosselmeyer is using to write the story?"

"If that's so, then why didn't he use it before now?" Fakir pointed out, raising a critical eyebrow.

"I don't know," Rue answered, a bit frustrated.

Mytho decided to cut in. "Maybe someone else could be writing it but we don't know," he said. "For now, what do we know about the story? It centers around Rue and Ahiru as Princess Tutu."

"And that red knight named Silence and something called the 'Mirror Shards'," added Ahiru. She paused, trying to piece everything together. "Maybe Drosselmeyer has _something _to do with the story? He was the one who gave me the pendant and said that the story was out of his hands."

"The question is: if Drosselmeyer isn't writing the story, who is? What kind of ending do they have planned for us?" asked Rue, taking a sip of her tea before setting it back on the table. "What kind of roles do we play in this story?"

"Who knows," Ahiru answered, suddenly standing up and the chair clanged behind her. "We may know nothing about our new story but one thing I do know is that we will fight any unhappy endings that await us, just like we had done before!" The other three nodded. They refused to disappear.

With that, they had finished up their discussion and found that it had gotten late. Deciding to turn in for bed, they stayed at Charon's house instead of heading towards the dorms.

~X~*~X~

Drosselmeyer cackled to himself as he watched the story unfold in the gear. "Oh my, what mystery and drama is unfolding! Oh, little duck, little prince, little princess, little knight, how do you expect to fight something you don't even know how it's going to end? I do hope that this unfolds into a beautiful tragedy much like my older works and Shakespeare's work."

While the writer was going on about drama and praising whoever the benefactor was, Uzura crept away towards the "loophole in time" so she could sneak away to see her friends. This time, she managed to get to the grandfather clock and got through it, appearing in a deserted street outside of a library. It was almost morning, so little Uzura began walking off, banging her drum, to find Fakir or Ahiru.

~X~*~X~

The next day was a free day for the ballet school children. Deciding it would be a good idea to check on Monet, Ahiru headed out alone while Mytho, Rue, and Fakir went to the library to search for Autor and any possibility of what the story they were in could end up as. Ahiru had never been good at research and decided that it would be a good idea to try to find pieces of whatever those 'Mirror Shards' were. Maybe she could find whoever Silence was and find out about her motives but she knew Fakir would shake his head and scold her for thinking like that.

Ahiru made a face and thought, _He can be overprotective sometimes._ When she thought of Fakir, two feelings welled up inside her. She knew both of them. Gratefulness for him staying with her when she was a duck and caring about her enough to _be _overprotective and concern. Fakir had been acting strangely ever since she had gotten the pendant. Maybe it was affecting him somehow? She frowned. Maybe it was something else? A third feeling rose in her gut. Puzzling over this one, she hadn't expected anyone to try to grab her attention.

The loud bang of a drum and a shout of "Ahiru" startled the girl so bad that she quacked in response. In a sparkle of gold and orange, she turned into a duck and quacked as she tried getting out of her clothes and figured out who had startled her so badly. "Oh, zura! Ahiru still is able to turn into a duck, zura," observed the voice of Uzura, bending down to see the duck get out of her clothes. The little puppet girl ran off to find water to pour of Ahiru.

Ahiru quickly began to gather her clothes up before the girl could pour the water on her head and have her turn back into a naked human in the middle of the street. She began running off down the street. Finally, thinking that she had most likely lost Uzura, Ahiru gave out a sigh. _Man, that was close._

Her peace was quickly shattered when the call of several young street boys came from behind her. Looking over her shoulder, the duck saw that three young boys had appeared behind her. "Oh, a duck," grinned one. His front teeth had been missing. The other adjusted his hat.

"My Mama makes the best roast duck," he commented. "Maybe we could use this one."

Ahiru quacked in fear. _R-roast d-d-duck?_

"What about that strange necklace?" asked the third boy, pointing to the heart necklace around Ahiru's neck. He reached to take it but Ahiru struggled to keep it on her neck.

_No! Leave me alone! Help! Fakir! Rue! Mytho! Someone! _Ahiru quacked as she struggled to get her necklace back from the boy before another picked her up by the foot. "We have to kill it first before we can have your mother fix it for dinner," stated the boy with missing teeth.

Ahiru fought her best to be released but it wasn't doing any good. _Help! _she quacked, tears rolling down her eyes. _Is this my ending?_

"Hey, brats!" shouted a voice of a girl. "Let that duck go!" A girl that bore a striking resemblance to the red knight Silence ran up to the group, holding her shopping bag at the ready to smack them.

The boys, not wanting to cause any trouble, dropped the necklace and the duck in fear and ran off. Ahiru quacked as she landed on the ground. Sore form the landing, she rubbed her aching butt but was relieved that she wasn't going to be anyone's dinner. Ahiru went to pick up the necklace and her clothes. After she finished tying the clothes around her neck, she turned towards the girl and gave her a quack of thanks.

The girl had a hard expression. She raised an eyebrow. "A duck stealing clothes and a necklace?" she asked. "How did you get those things?" Bending down to scoop up the duck, she began walking. "Disgusting," she muttered. "I hate them all. I'm glad I'm able to turn into Silence and collect all those shards. One day, every one of them will get what's coming to them."

Ahiru heard all of this. She quacked in response. The girl looked towards the duck. "Ducks don't talk, so I know you knowing won't be bad," she said. "You most likely can agree with me. How many people go duck hunting and kill your kin for dinner." Finally stopping at the park, she put the duck down. "Now, don't go off and get eaten today, got it, clumsy duck?" The girl walked off.

Ahiru hid her clothes and pendant in a bush nearby the lake. Sitting on the lake, she decided to think about what had just happened over the last hour. _That girl, she said she was able to become Silence. What did she mean by "they'll get what's coming to them" and that she hated humans? What's up with her? Just who is she really?_

Act 2: End.

**Silence is based on a female knight from a 13th century romance called "Le Roman de Silence" by a French writer Heldris of Cornwall and her outfit was slightly inspired by The Red Whirlwind from Romeo x Juliet. An amazing anime. ^^ Sylvie/Silence has a French motif about her despite Princess Tutu's German and Russian inspirations. Oh well. Hope you enjoyed!**


	5. Act 4: Stories and Nightmares: Confused

**A/N: Thanks to BlueForestAngelCat and James Birdsong for reviewing. ^w^**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Princess Tutu.**

**Princess Tutu**

**Hour of the Swan**

Act 4:

"Stories and Nightmares" Confused Feelings

The black birds, they were everywhere. _"You can't escape us," it said. "You are a raven."_

_No! _Rue refused to believe it. _I'm not a raven! Not anymore!_

_"You are," _continued the ravens. _"You can't escape who you are."_

Around her, the black feathers swirled and fell around her. A mirror appeared in front of her. Rue's reflection was Kraehe, a girl dressed in a gothic tutu and her hair up and a piercing smirk. Rue cried out and ran. _"You are Kraehe, no matter what you do," _taunted the voice.

Rue cried out, jolting out of bed, scaring Ahiru awake. Ahiru held back a quack of surprise and turned towards her friend that had taken up the bed. "Rue?" she asked, concerned, seeing that the girl was troubled by something. "Rue? Are you okay?"

Rue hugged her legs and whimpered. _That nightmare again,_ she thought. _Why is it haunting me?_

Ahiru put a hand on Rue's shoulder. She had noticed that the girl hadn't had a decent night's sleep for the past week since the story had began. "Rue, was it a nightmare?" Ahiru asked gently. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Rue shook her head and pulled herself together. "N-no," she chocked. "I'm fine. I just need to go back to sleep. It was a nightmare, after all." Ahiru frowned and stared down at her friend. Finally giving in, she gave the girl a hug before going back to sleep.

~X~*~X~

Later that morning, Ahiru and Fakir went off to school. Since the story was going on, Fakir had decided it would be a good idea if the prince and princess stay there instead of going to school as to not cause a stir if they went back to school. Mytho had went out for a walk that he had normally taken in the early morning, leaving Rue alone with the house with Uzura since Charon was running the shop. The little girl puppet had slept in far later than she used to and that allowed Rue the chance a quiet time alone.

Signing, she thought about her dream. Shaking a little, she dropped the tea packet that she had chosen onto the counter. Picking it up after shaking her head to clear off the fear, she placed the packet into the hot water and took it to the table. Looking back on the flashes and glimpses that she dared to think about, she could see the Kraehe reflection staring at her. The voices of the ravens still echoed in her head. _"You are a raven. You can't escape who you are."_

_What does it mean? _Rue thought, clenching her grip on the cup until her hand turned white. _Does this dream have something to do with the story? Do I become Kraehe again and cause everyone trouble?_ If it was to come to that, Rue wouldn't go through with it. Her time as being the bad guy in the last story was all the trouble she wanted to cause. Ever since going to Mytho's kingdom, the two of them disgraced their raven's blood, pretending it wasn't part of them. Was it now stirring because of that girl from earlier or maybe Silence? Rue tried to piece it together but it wasn't making sense in her mind.

_What kind of role do I play? Is it one that I want to defy?_

"Where's Ahiru and Fakir, zura?" asked the voice of an innocent girl. Alarmed, the dark haired girl turned to see Uzura staring at her blankly.

Rue sighed out of relief. "They went to school," she answered. "They'll be back later."

With that, Uzura banged on her drums and went to find something to do. Rue turned back to her thinking but was interrupted when she heard a crash from one of the bed rooms. Alarmed, the girl got up and went to see what the ruckus was and if Uzura was all right. In Fakir's room, she found Uzura had been going through his closet where a whole bunch of stuff had been stored. Uzura wan banging her drum in surprise and wonder. "Wow," she exclaimed, looking at everything in the pile.

Rue sighed. The little girl had always caused commotion and Rue wondered how Fakir was able to handle this and not want to rip his hair out. Kneeling, she began picking up the contents of the closet. "Uzura, help me out," she said. "Let's pick this up before Fakir returns and he scolds."

Uzura continued banging her drum, leaving Rue to clean it up. She scanned the things on the floor and something caught her eye. Hidden under a box, Uzura picked up a dusty old notebook. Rue looked up to try to get Uzura to help pick things up when she noticed the notebook. Taking it from the puppet, she turned it over. Scrawled in child's handwriting, she noticed that the title of the story was called _A Mirror_.

Curious, she opened it and saw that the one who wrote it was Fakir. Judging from the handwriting, Rue concluded that he must have written it when he was a young boy. Looking through, she could see child drawings next to the pages with writing. Uzura looked at the book and wrapped on her drum. "What does it say, zura?" asked Uzrua.

Rue began reading the story aloud. "Once upon a time, there was a mirror in the procession of a great glassmaker. He wanted to make something that would reveal the truth to those who searched for it. Finally making the mirror, he showed it to the townspeople. They appraised him for making such a mirror. They used it to find the guilty of crimes and solved many problems.

Over the years, the mirror passed from town to town. After hundreds of years of gossip and rumors, a demon heard of the mirror. Thinking that he could use it to cause trouble, he looked far and wide for the mirror and sealed himself in it. From then on, he manipulated the mirror to tell the seekers of truth things they didn't want to hear. Seeing their hope turn to despair, love turn to hate, and kindness turn to vanity, he cackled to himself, 'Oh, what grief and sorrow! What fun this is!'

After watching his kingdom being torn apart by the mirror, the King had the mirror sealed away so that it could cause no more trouble.

For hundreds of years, the mirror had been kept secret and was forgotten about until a girl a with dark brown hair and violet eyes came upon it. She asked it a question and the demon answered, 'It's because you are different. No one loves you. You find yourself as a freak and so do others. They all hate you and want you to suffer.' Out of rage, she destroyed the mirror and the shards broke into six pieces and were to continue causing trouble until a brave knight rose up and-" Rue turned the page to see that the story stopped there. Blinking, Rue flipped back to check that it just stopped there.

Uzura had silenced herself so she could listen. She urged her to continue the story but Rue told her that was everything. Rubbing her head, she decided to look through the rest of the notebook. It was empty. "This story has no ending," she realized. She looked at some of the pictures that had been drawn. They were of child's quality but was still clear about who was who. In one picture, she noticed that there was a girl- the Girl that had asked the mirror a question- wearing a blue dress and a traveling cloak. Her hair was held back with a dark ribbon.

There was no way that this was coincidence. Rue kept her mouth from dropping. The picture of the girl freakishly reminded her of the girl that had sent the ravens after her back in Mytho's kingdom. Was there a chance that the two were connected? Maybe connected with Silence? How did they play a plan in the story?

When she heard the opening of a door and the two began scrambling to put everything back in the closet. Forcing it closed and locking it, Rue forgot that she still had the notebook in her hands. She went to see who it was. "What are you doing back so early?" asked Rue to Fakir.

"Doesn't matter," he answered, taking the cold cup of tea that Rue had forgotten and poured it down the drain. He turned and sighed as he sat in a chair. Rubbing his eye, he looked towards Uzura and Rue. "Ahiru's staying back late for some extra practice," Fakir said. "She's getting better but she's gotten back into the apprentice class."

Rue sighed and kept from chortling. "That's Ahiru," she said.

Fakir's eye caught the notebook that Rue had in her hands. Getting up, he took the notebook from her hands and stared down at it in surprise. "W-where did you-?" he asked. He turned to the wood stove and started it. Throwing the notebook in it's belly, Fakir turned towards her angrily. "Don't go through my stuff, Rue!" With that, he stormed towards he room.

Rue frowned and walked out of the room. Uzura followed her. _What's his problem?_ wondered Rue.

~X~*~X~

Fakir sat in his room. His eye hurt terribly. _How can I write an ending for a story I know nothing about?_ he thought. "Damn eye," he muttered.

Nothing that he, Autor, Mytho, and Rue had found nothing about the story they were in. There was no way that they could figure out who the writer was. Looking back at Drosselmeyer's stories, they couldn't find any characters by the name of Silence or anything about "Mirror Shards" save for a story called the _Snow Queen_. Unfortunately, in that story, there was no character named Silence or a girl followed by Ravens. After searching the stories that had lost their endings, finished stories, plays, and fables, the four had given up.

For a few short minutes, he was filled with doubt. _What can I do? Write an ending to a story that I don't even know about? Fight an ending that I don't even know what's coming? _he thought. _How can I fight? I'm just that useless knight. I couldn't keep Ahiru from being hurt._

Surprised by his thinking, Fakir looked at his hands. He took the pillow from his bed and threw it at the wall out of anger. _Why am I thinking that? _he scolded himself. _I'll fight whatever's coming. I'll protect Ahiru from whatever tragedy there is destined for us, just like before! _His eye began to throb again. His hands flew up to it as he winced. _Damn eye._

~X~*~X~

Over the week, everyone saw that Ahiru was getting better but she couldn't pull herself out of the apprentice class yet. Everyone seemed to notice, except Fakir. He had been off in his own world half the time and this frustrated Ahiru to no end. Part of wanting to become a girl again was to talk to Fakir and, maybe, even dance with him. Her mind flashed back to the first time she had danced with him, back when they were enemies then to the time when he had helped her overcome her fears in the Lake of Despair. He had been the strength she needed to hold on but now, he was acting strangely. Ahiru wanted to help him but he had constantly refused.

"Just stay out of trouble, idiot," he had answered. "Don't worry about me."

Angry, she lost focus and slipped and collapsed. "Oh! She tumbled," sighed Pique.

"Oh, just look at her being flustered!" giggled Lillie. "Is it about Fakir and Mytho? I heard that Mister Mytho has returned. I can just smell the battle already as they fight for your affection!"

Ahiru sighed as she got up with Pique's help. "Is Senior Mytho really back?" asked Pique, going slightly giddy herself. She loved seeing drama, just as much as Lillie but Pique was keen on not having Ahiru fail. "Are you having conflicting feelings towards them both? I'm sure you haven't gotten over Senior Mytho."

Ahiru turned her back to them. "It's not that," she answered. "Fakir has just been acting strangely. I don't know why."

Lillie was determined to get a fight, in one form or another. "I'm sure it's about Mytho being back!" she exclaimed. "He's jealous about him having your affection and wants you to choose him but Mytho refuses to say no!"

Pique gave her friend an annoyed look as she pushed Ahiru by mistake, making the girl with little hand-eye coordination fall to the ground, in her over zealous fantasies of knights battling for love. "Oh, Ahiru fell again!"

"That was your fault!" Pique accused and got the same result.

Ahiru thought about it for a minute as she got up and resumed practice as Pique finally made Lillie stop her squeals of delight. _Could Fakir be jealous? He has been acting strangely ever since Mytho came back. Fakir also knew of my feelings for Mytho for a long time_, she thought. It could be that but it made little sense.

~X~*~X~

After practice, Ahiru left for her dorm with her two friends, who were gabbing to her about this and that. They suddenly stopped when they saw Mytho standing in front of the school. The three stopped and gasped. "I knew Mytho was back!" cheered Lillie and Pique. "Go to him and fight for his affection!" Lillie literally picked her up and tossed her while laughing like a manic.

As Ahiru went flying through the air, she couldn't help but think, _I wonder if Lillie is friends with Drosselmeyer._ She landed in a clump in front of Mytho, surprised to see her make such an entrance. "Are you okay?" he asked, bending down.

"I-I'm fine!" Ahiru answered, turning a bit red. The red-haired girl looked back at her friends to give them the dirty look but noticed that they were gone.

"That was quite a fly," Mytho said with a smile. "Almost like when you're Tutu but the landing could have a little work." Offering a hand.

"Yeah," answered Ahiru, taking it. If her face could have turned any redder, it would have. "What's up?"

"I wanted to come to pick you up," Mytho answered, looking past her. "I also wanted to see the old school. It's been a short while, but I feel as if I haven't been her in an eternity. This place has been my home for a while."

Ahiru sighed. _I wish my heart didn't hurt,_ she sighed. _I love Mytho but he's happy with Rue. _OH! _What's my problem!_ She looked back at the school. "How about we head back to Charon's?" she suggested. "I'm sure Rue has been waiting for a while. I also want to know how Fakir's doing. He wasn't feeling too good when he left in the middle of class."

Mytho turned to her and gave her a smile. "Right," he said. "I've been out almost all day."

As they headed back towards the blacksmith's house, they passed over a bridge. Ahiru sighed. _Why can't I sort out everything?_ she thought. _Mytho will never be more than a friend. Why can't I get myself to realize that?_

Mytho heard her sigh. He looked at her. She didn't notice him staring at her. Mytho frowned. _She's been upset for the last few days, _he thought to himself. _I wonder what's on her mind?_ "Hey, Ahiru, what's wrong?" he asked, looking at her.

Ahiru snapped her head up. "Uh, n-nothing! I'm fine! Everything's okay!" she lied, waving her hands in front of her.

Mytho knew that she was lying but he thought that if she wanted to tell him, she would have. Mytho shook his head. "I know something's wrong," he stated. "If you want to talk, I'll listen. I'm your friend after all."

Ahiru nodded. _That's right, I still have his love, _she thought. _But it's a different type of love. I'll get used to it._ "Thanks, Mytho."

From above, a girl wearing a bright blue dress narrowed her eyes at the two. Her star-shaped pendant was glowing. "So, that's Princess Tutu's human form," the girl named Sylvie said to herself. "She has one of the shards but she's with that prince. That Rue is close to him. If I harm him, then she will show her face, right?" She jumped down from the building top and landed just in front of them, startling them both.

"You!" cried Mytho, recognizing the girl.

Ahiru recognized her too as the girl who had saved her from those boys the week before. "Who are you?" the two asked.

"Sylvie," she introduced herself with an angered expression. "Where's the Raven Princess?"

"Away from here," answered Mytho, standing in front of Ahiru protectively. "Even if she was nearby, I wouldn't let you hurt her."

Sylvie sighed. "Fine, I'll just force her out." In a glimmer of red, she was garbed in a red skintight dress, billowing dark red cap, and a hat. Ahiru gasped. The girl she had seen before wasn't just connected to Silence but _was _Silence, herself. Silence dashed at the unarmed prince, bringing her sword up and ready to strike. Mytho shoved Ahiru back and jumped out of the way, ending up falling into the water.

Ahiru watched as Silence land where Mytho had been and went after him. Taking the chance to get up, Ahiru turned into Princess Tutu and jumped after them. Walking on the water, she went over to Mytho and helped him up as Silence threw small daggers at him which Tutu deflected with her fan. Silence growled and took her sword back out, jumping towards her and brought her sword down on her.

"Why are you standing in my way, Tutu?" the girl knight demanded. Taking a step back and keeping her sword at the ready. She wasn't alarmed by that she could walk on the water.

Princess Tutu held the fan in front of her. "Why do you want to fight so badly?" the ballerina asked with concern. "Why are you after the 'Mirror Shards'?"

Silence gripped her sword's hilt tighter. "Humans, they disgust me. Once I reassemble the mirror with the six Mirror Shards, I'll be able to get rid of them all! They have no humanity left! They're even worse than animals!"

"If you want to get rid of humans so badly, why are you one yourself?" Mytho asked. "Are you a raven?"

"No!" she shouted. "I'm no filthy raven. I have no choice in being human!"

"Then why are you working for Drosselmeyer?" Princess Tutu asked. "He's writing this story that we're all trapped in. Why are you working for him?"

"I'm not," she answered, rushing towards Princess Tutu. The ballerina jumped out of the way with Mytho. Both landed on the edge of the bridge. Just as the water gave way, Silence jumped towards the railing next to the sidewalk.

"Then how did you get that pendant?" asked the ballerina. "He's the only person who can give these away."

Silence blinked for a second. It was true. The crazed old man had given her the pendant after seeing her wandering the streets. _"Fight injustice that humanity had given you!" he said. "All I ask in return is that you gather pieces like the one in your necklace. Be part of a story and get your wish."_

_"But you're just a human," spat Sylvie._

_"Yes, I am," he cackled from his shadow, "but so are you! I just wish to see a story being wrote. Apparently, who ever is writing it wants you to be their main character and achieve your goals in the end."_

Princess Tutu took advantage of this to put Mytho back onto the sidewalk. She danced over to her, spinning slowly while saying through her dance, "I'm sure you really don't want to do this. I'm sure you don't want to really get rid of humanity, Sylvie."

Silence thrust her sword at her stomach in rage. Princess Tutu jumped back in order to avoid the jab. "Don't use my name like your my friend!" she screamed. "You're my enemy in the story! I'll be back!" With that, she dashed off.

"W-wait!" Princess Tutu went to go after her but lost Silence. Giving up, she jumped back down to Mytho and turned back into Ahiru.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. Ahiru nodded. They headed back towards Charon's only to be greeted by silence and the room was nearly destroyed. Both began to worry. "Rue! Fakir! Uzura!" They began running towards the kitchen. The room was filled with broken dishes and the table and chairs were thrown every which way. The other door was barricaded and they could hear shouts for someone to open the door. In the middle of the room, Fakir was laying on the ground, knocked out. In the corner, Rue was cowering with Uzura hugged close. Both looked scared beyond belief.

"Fakir!" screamed Ahiru, rushing over to him.

Act 4: End.

**So, we figured get more drama. What's wrong with Fakir? Why is Rue having nightmares about Kraehe? What kind of role does she play? Good or evil? Please note that I support FakirxAhiru and MythoxRue but I'm pretty sure Ahiru wouldn't have entirely gotten over Mytho so quickly, thus why she still has some feelings towards him. This was supposed to be two separate chapters but both were way too short, so I combined them. Well, hope you enjoyed!**


	6. Act 5: I'm Better: Black Pride

**A/N: Okay, something quick. I decided to give Rue an extra piece in her personality. I don't honestly know if that's the case, but I can see Rue being slightly prone to competition and being a bit proud over coming an adversary, of course not **_**too **_**proud as the character in this. Sorry if it's a little OOC for Rue. ^^; Thanks to BlueForestAngelCat for reviewing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Princess Tutu. If I did, Ahiru would have ended up human instead of turning back into a duck.**

**Princess Tutu**

**Hour of the Swan**

Act 5:

"I'm Better" Black Pride

Ahiru couldn't sleep. Her worry was bothering her. The doctor had been called and taken away to somewhere safe. No one knew his condition and Ahiru was on the verge to tears. _What's going on, Fakir? What are you doing?_

The boy had been found with cuts and bruises and completely comatose. Rue had been shaken but had slowly gotten better the next day. _She had explained with Uzura what had happened. "He just came into the room with the weirdest look on his face. He was acting fine and then he just . . . snapped. The next thing I knew was that he was going into a mad fit and grabbed a knife to try to gouge his eye out and was screaming about not having a chance like a demon before . . ." Rue shivered._

_"What happened next?" Mytho pressed gently, putting his hands on hers._

_"He . . . he just began holding his head in pain, screaming for us to run and demanding what was wrong with him." She paused again, trying to make sense of what she had seen. "Then he just began tipping everything over before collapsing minutes before you came in. It was like he was possessed."_

_Mytho held her against him. "It has to be something to do with the story," he said. "What is he planning?"_

Ahiru walked to her window and sat in the moonlight that filtered through the open shades. _It's all my fault, isn't it? _she thought, burying her head in her legs wrapped around her. _I had pulled him into the story. _Ahiru sniffed. She heard the door open and she turned to see Rue come in. "Rue, what are you doing up?" she asked, forgetting about her tears.

"I could ask the same for you, Ahiru," answered the dark haired girl. "Can't sleep, can you? Worried about Fakir?" Ahiru nodded, looking down at a spot on the hardwood floor.

"I'm sure he's fine," Rue said, trying to sound comforting. "He'll be better soon and we can ask him what was going on."

Ahiru nodded but still sniffed. Rue raised her eyebrows. "That isn't why you're crying, are you?" she asked. "You think you're at fault?"

Ahiru snapped her head up. "I-it has to be me!" she cried, standing up and showing her the heart-shaped gem. "I accepted the pendant from Drosselmeyer! I accepted the role of Princess Tutu again and know, Fakir is paying the price." She collapsed onto the floor. "If only I hadn't gotten this thing, he'd be okay."

Rue stood there, unsure how to comfort her. When she heard the girl say, "It's all my fault," Rue snapped. The dark haired girl picked up her friend by the arm and smacked her out of anger. "It's not you're fault!" Rue shouted in a hard tone, startling the redhead. "It's that damn crazed old man or whoever the hell is writing this Godforsaken story! We're all just pawns in this! Everything will turn out all right if we keep a steady resolve and not break! Ahiru, pull yourself together! This is exactly what Drosselmeyer wants!" Normally, Rue would have been a bit more careful using the words such as "hell", "damn", and "Godforsaken" but she was too livid to even care. "We're all pawns, even Silence!"

Ahiru hadn't heard her friend snap like that- ever. _That's right,_ she remembered. _I had felt guilty about hurting Mytho the way I did when I returned the Heartshard of Fear, but-_ "But if I hadn't accepted it, Fakir would have been okay," she chocked.

Rue sighed, letting the girl go. "There's nothing you can do to change the past," Rue said. "I should know. I was Kraehe and I regret what I did to you and Mytho, but that's all in the past. There's nothing I can do about it know but try to forget it. But you!" Rue gave Ahiru a hard stare before continuing. "You have the power to use what you have to _end _the story that we're in the middle of. If we can collect those 'Mirror Shards', we could stop everything and fight against our endings- whatever they are."

The duck girl looked towards the ground. _Rue's right, _Ahiru told herself. _I have to keep fighting, for everyone! I won't allow us all to get an unhappy ending. _"Thank you, Rue," she said. "I am Princess Tutu and I have to be strong."

Rue nodded before leaving, giving her a small smile. She closed the door behind her. Ahiru sat looking out the window, her mind going over what Rue had said. _"We're all pawns, even Silence." _Her mind went over to the day before, just before finding Fakir and Rue when she and Mytho had fought with Silence- or Sylvie as she showed herself to be. _Why does she want to get ride of everyone?_

_"They're even worse than animals!"_ She had said that, but why did she say that? Why was she working part of the story so easily? Did she know what the ending could be? As she ran through the encounter in her head, several questions popped up in her head. Why did she want Rue? Why did she want her necklace? How was she able to turn into Silence? Then she remembered the look in her eyes: hate and something else that Ahiru could only guess as loneliness.

She had seen it in her eyes when Silence had tried to impale Princess Tutu with her sword when the ballerina had addressed her as her name instead of Silence. _"Don't use my name like you're my friend! You're my enemy in the story!" Why does she want to destroy humanity when she looks so lonely?_ Ahiru wondered to herself before suddenly falling asleep.

~X~*~X~

After a few days, Rue and Mytho had reenrolled in the ballet section of the school. Gossip had passed between the students about why they had returned but it was all ignored by the two. Even after months of not being in Kinkan's ballet school, they were still in top shape. Rue had returned into the advanced class with ease after her pas de deux with Mytho. Everyone seemed happy about the return of the top ballet student- all except one student. Ahiru had caught her sneering at Rue while her performance was going on. Ahiru questioned her friends about this.

"Oh, you mean Olympe?" asked Pique, giving Ahiru a critical eye. "You don't even remember her?"

Lillie laughed. "It's just like Ahiru to forget everyone in our class that have been here just as long as she has."

Pique began gossiping with the three in low whispers as the dance went on. "Olympe has always been a hard worker, kind and everything but within the last few weeks, she has been acting strangely," Pique explained. "She's been asked to help the lesser classes because of her explosive progress in ballet, becoming the top student after Rue left. For a while, she had been happy to obliged to do it but now, she just shoves off the request saying she's too good for it. She must be thinking that Rue has gotten worse while she was gone." They looked towards the girl with sea blue hair. Her eyes had widened in surprise and rage just as the two had finished their dance.

Lillie giggled like a gossiping girl. "I can just see the battle going to be waged here!" she exclaimed, pumping her arm into the air. "Fight, fight, fight hard the two of you!"

Unfortunately, Lillie had cried way too loudly. The purple haired girl and redhead both paled when they saw Professor Neko slowly look over his shoulder. For a second, they thought they saw a glint in his eye that made them both jump. He didn't do anything, seeing that they had quieted down, he turned back and began furiously grooming his paw. Between licks, he said, "Great job, Rue and Mytho. You've been working hard and becoming better. It's a pleasure having you return. Rue, you have reclaimed being in the advanced class."

With that, Olympe stood up furiously but she recovered her cool demeanor. "Professor Neko," she said, with a relatively calm look on her face and in her tone. "There's already five students in the advanced class. There is room for no more. The former 'best' student needs to be compared to _the _best right now, to even see if she is capable of doing such things. If she happens to be better than me, then she can have my place." Olympe flashed a challenging look towards Rue. The girl narrowed her eyes in response.

Professor Neko agreed. "All right," he said. "We shall preform it here since you are so . . . well, how about we just get to it." He turned towards his class. "Consider this a look into the competitiveness of ballet. Some of you may eventually face this in the world of pros."

Lillie squealed. "I can just smell the blood."

Pique rolled her eyes and Ahiru watched intently as both began. True, Olympe was prideful but she had a _right _to be the best. Her ballet showed it. It was graceful, perfectly balanced, and made everyone watch as Olympe did her dance. All were thinking, "How will Rue top this?" When Olympe ended her dance, she gave Rue a snide side glance and said condescendingly, "Much luck, Rue. Break a leg."

Mytho noticed the tension and narrowed his eyes. _Something's wrong with her, _he thought. Rue took to the dance floor and danced just as beautifully and as gracefully as she had done earlier. She was great. Only one aspect had the two ballerinas' dances apart: emotion. Comparing Rue's to Olympe's, even Ahiru could see the difference. Rue's was connected and showed consisted emotion to the dance while Olympe's was jerky and showed only an air of superiority. When Rue was done, she bowed towards her audience and they clapped in response.

Professor Neko applauded along with them. "Beautiful, Miss Rue, Miss Olympe. Full of beauty and hard work, but," he made a dramatic pause before continuing, "Miss Olympe, you're dance is missing something. It lacks a vital component in a dance that expresses beauty. Balance and grace, you are in control of but it has no you in it. "

With that, the class was given a small break before lessons were to begin. Everyone flocked towards Rue (save Ahiru, Pique, and Lillie) and gave her praise. Rue only smiled in response and glanced towards Olympe with a smile of triumph. Olympe's eyes flashed in anger as she glared at the crowd surrounding Rue.

The three friends watched as Professor Neko and Olympe talked. The girl argued angrily and Professor Neko responded with the usual threatening marriage gag before Olympe stormed away. As she passed by the three, she bummed into Ahiru but took no notice. Ahiru nearly lost her balance but managed to steady herself just as she noticed her pendant's glow dying. _Does she have a Mirror Shard like Monet?_ she thought.

Lillie smiled, giddy. "Oh, I can see the battle coming."

Pique sighed as they began their stretching before they were to practice.

~X~*~X~

Word spread around about Olympe's denoting back into the regular ballet class. The next day, it was even true. The blue haired girl was in the same class as most of the students. A few days later, Ahiru managed to pull herself out of the apprentice class and as they all practiced, she could see that Olympe was angered and embarrassed to be in the class. Every time she passed Ahiru, the heart pendant glowed. There was no denying that Olympe had a Mirror Shard.

_All right, _she told herself. _I just have to tail her for it! Follow her after school today, turn into Princess Tutu and retrieve it from her. Piece of cake, right?_

"Ahiru, you're going too slow," warned Pique from behind her.

"R-right!" Ahiru sped up so she wouldn't lag behind.

~X~*~X~

Rue went to change after the advanced class' practice was done. She had been there for only two days and it was a rocky time coming in, since the other girls were uncertain if Rue did deserved to be in their small class. In the end, she had won several of them over. As she pulled out her clothes, she noticed a folded piece of paper resting in her cubbie. She opened it as she sat down. Rue narrowed her eyes and got dressed.

~X~*~X~

Ahiru had shadowed Olympe as a duck from behind. She had done it as human but she had gotten close to being seen and quacked. Tying her clothes to her back, she followed. It had gotten dark when she had finally lead Ahiru to an abandoned outdoor theater. Ahiru stood behind a leg of one of the wooden benches. She saw that Rue was standing on the stage, as if waiting for her. Apparently, she was since Rue turned to meet the girl.

They began talking but Ahiru was unable to hear anything, so she crept closer. "-then why do you want me here?" she heard Rue say.

"I was humiliated," Olympe answered. "I want my spot back and you to leave forever."

Rue just shook her head. "I got it fair and square, Olympe," she said. "If you want it back so badly, work harder for it."

Olympe growled. Even though Ahiru only saw her back, she could guess the girl was glaring angrily at Rue. "If you won't relinquish it, then we'll do a second competition."

Olympe stepped back and began spinning. The area around her began sprouting roots and black water spouted out of the area. Ahiru quacked as one root threw her into the air as the stage became bigger and had different levels to it, provided by roots. Water surrounded them on all sides, making it almost impossible to escape. Rue gapped.

"What is all of this?" she demanded. Out of the roots, figures looking like people formed everywhere.

"This is our stage, Rue," answered Olympe, stopping her spinning as her work was done. "We dance until our 'audience' picks the winner. You have no way to back out, Rue."

Ahiru pulled herself up from the entanglement of the branches. Her school uniform fell into the water below. The duck quacked running to stop them and she alerted the two of the girls. "A duck?" Olympe asked.

"Ahiru, don't bother," Rue said. "I can't back down since I got what I deserved."

Still Ahiru quacked. _Rue, don't! She has a Mirror Shard! She isn't herself!_ Olympe snorted and a root became animated and thwacked the duck away. Ahiru crashed into the foot of one of the root figures.

The two began, mirroring each other's movements. When they began spinning around each other, Olympe twisted around as they both spun and her leg collided Rue's back, causing her to loose balance and have to back step to keep her balance. Rue gave her a dirty glare before continuing. "You're aiming on beating me by cheating?" she asked.

"Anything for me to keep my pride," Olympe answered as they jumped past each other. Ahiru watched as she tried to make herself stand. Every time the two adversaries came across each other, Olympe lashed out at her, making her loose balance, mess up, and fall. Ahiru couldn't help but want to jump forwards and stop the two but something was holding her back. Looking down at her feet, roots and entangled themselves around her ankles.

Finally, Rue danced farther away from Olympe so that her sore body from impacts wouldn't give out if Olympe stuck out at her again. She didn't account for animated roots that began to slither and try to strike her legs. Surprised, Rue jumped away but a second one shot towards her. Paralyzed, Rue just stood there and Olympe smirked.

"QUACK!" Ahiru screamed. In a flash of gold, the duck turned into Princess Tutu. She jumped in front of it and took out her fan, using it to slap away the root. Olympe gasped at what she saw. "Wh-who? I-I thought no one could-," Olympe stuttered.

Princess Tutu turned towards her friend. "Are you okay, Rue?" she asked.

Rue nodded. "You didn't have too," she said in a low whisper.

The ballerina shook her head. "No, I did," she denied. "Miss Olympe holds a piece of the Mirror Shards." Princess Tutu stepped forward and offered her hand towards Olympe. "Miss Olympe, will you dance with me?"

The girl gave the redhead a hard look. "Get out of my way! We're still in the middle of a competition!" She jumped forwards and a root followed her movements. Princess Tutu jumped into the air and gently landed on top of it.

"Through cheating?" Princess Tutu asked. "I'm sure you're truly not like that. Your dance, it's really amazing." She jumped down gracefully and began twirling. "You want to get better, don't you? You want to be the best?"

Olympe nodded. "Yes, I deserve it because I worked hard!" she shouted. "I worked hard to get where I am now! I refuse to be put down now, when I'm so close!"

"You practice but it really isn't you," Princess Tutu came to a stop right in front of her, raising her hands into the air. "Sometimes, people come across that are better than you are. You must practice more, not lash out like you are. There's always something you have to improve!"

"NO! My dance is perfect!" she screamed. A root lashed out at Tutu. Rue jumped to her feet and tackled her to the ground. The roots under Olympe began stirring and she began rising into the air on a stand.

"Thanks, Rue," Princess Tutu thanked her before standing. Spinning, a bed of flowers exploded from her feet and she rose into the air to meet up with Olympe. She jumped from the flower pillar that collapsed when it's passenger left it.

"S-stay away!" cried Olympe.

But Princess Tutu persisted. "You know lashing out in such a way isn't right," she said, dancing around Olympe. "Why do you do such a thing, Miss Olympe? Is it truly you or your pride doing this?" Stopping, Tutu stepped towards the girl and offered her hand. This time, Olympe took it.

Her dance expressed her changing feelings. "My pride got the best of me, I guess. I worked so hard!" Tears formed behind Olympe's eyes. "I had a dream to be in the advanced class, ever since I started ballet. When Rue left, I saw the chance and jumped at it, drowning myself in my practice and becoming the best I could be. Perfection was what I was aiming for. Then it was all taken away when Rue returned. I was angered."

"Your dance is graceful and balanced but the reason why Rue was better was because of emotion." Princess Tutu twisted around and raised the other ballerina's hand into the air. "You sacrificed perfection for emotion. Emotion is what makes dance beautiful. Even a clumsy duck can make a beautiful dance, even though she is only in an apprentice class as long as the dance is hers. To stumble, to trip and fall, as long as it's you, its beautiful. Don't you see, Olympe?"

Olympe spun away. "But balance and grace. Isn't that perfection?"

"No," answered Tutu. "Perfection doesn't exist if you loose yourself. Please, show me your true dance." Princess Tutu offered her hand for a third time. Hesitantly, Olympe took it. When they both began mimicking movements and dancing together, Olympe's dance exploded into suppressed emotion. "This is it. Doesn't it feel so releasing?" asked Tutu, as she held her out.

"Yes." Olympe cupped her hands over her hands, much like Monet had done. Princess Tutu stood over her, holding her arms around her as if to embrace. "I lost myself," whispered Olympe. "Now I found a part of it. I'll work harder. No more pride getting in the way." Pulling her hands away from her heart, Olympe took out a small orb of glowing purple light, taking the form of a shard of glass.

Princess Tutu caught the girl as she collapsed. Setting her onto the floor, she turned towards the Mirror Shard. Taking it into her hands, Tutu could feel the feelings of pride and ego radiate from the shard. "Pride? What are you for?" she wondered to herself.

Rue ran up to her as the roots began to disappear. "What's that?" Rue asked. "The 'Mirror Shard'?"

"I think," Princess Tutu answered. Looking down, Princess Tutu saw that her own heart-shaped pendant was glowing bright orange. In a flash of light, two featureless figures stood in front of them, emitting orange and purple glows.

"Yes, we are the shards of the mirror," answered the two figures. "The Mirror Shard of Pride, the one that you hold in your hands, and the Mirror Shard of Hope, the one you were around your neck."

Princess Tutu looked down at her pendant. "It's . . . apart of a mirror? That's why Silence is after my necklace?"

"That makes sense," Rue stated. "But why is she after me?"

The figures didn't answer the question but instead told a story. "Long ago, we were apart of a mirror that showed the truth to anyone who asked any questions. For a long time, we would show the whole truth and _only _the truth. That was, until a demon sealed himself in the mirror, twisting the truth. The six shards are the personification of the feelings captured before and after the answer was given in our reflection."

Rue gasped. Her mind went back to the story she and Uzura had read. "Did a girl happen to smash the mirror?" she asked, hastily.

"Yes," the figures stated.

Princess Tutu looked back at her friend. "How did you know that?" she asked.

"Uzura and I found a story written by Fakir, maybe when he was a child, much like the one we are hearing from them," Rue explained. It dawned on both of them that Fakir had mistakenly written the story when he was young.

"But, that can't be, right?" asked the redhead.

"No, the story never got an ending," pointed out Rue. "It stopped. Someone has to be trying to finish the story, with us in it. Silence must be the girl in the story who shattered the mirror. What happens if the mirror pieces are brought back together?"

"The demon would be released," answered the Mirror Shards. "For now, that's all we can tell you. Be careful of Despair and Love. They will cause you the most trouble." With that, they both disappeared in a shimmer of light.

Princess Tutu turned back into Ahiru. "We have to find Mytho and tell him what we found out!"

Rue gave her an annoyed look. "Not like that," she said.

"Eh?" Ahiru looked down at herself and quacked. She had forgotten that she lost her clothes. In a shimmer of gold, she turned back into a duck and was blushing madly from embarrassment. Rue went to pick up the bundle of clothes that had fallen from the root stage and the two began heading to Charon's after stopping at a water fountain and having Ahiru change into her clothes.

~X~*~X~

Drosselmeyer chortled to himself. "This is getting interesting," he said. "Fakir said he'd never be like me but here he his, the starter of his own story this time around. Where are Love and Despair then?" Turning towards another gear, he looked to see a pair of black eyes staring down at a girl.

~X~*~X~

"Master, I have only one shard," she said, presenting the Shard of Hate to the eyes.

They narrowed and he chuckled. "Good, good," said a booming voice. "Haven't you gotten the other shard? I tried writing that the Shard of Pride to grab the Shard of Hope but that Princess ended up over coming it on her own. Interesting girl she is. I'm glad that Drosselmeyer had chosen _her_; things are getting interesting."

The girl didn't answer. Her mind was going over the things that had transpired over the past few weeks. The master noticed the confusion on his lackey's face. "Are you questioning yourself?" he demanded. "Are you loosing your resolve on your wish? A main character should waver so."

Sylvie snapped her head up. "No," she lied. "I'm just . . . curious."

The pair of eyes raised an invisible eyebrow. "Curious? I thought you wanted revenge on the humans for what they did to you. Don't waver! You said that humans are selfish and have no humanity. Now, do you're best to get the shard of Love. Leave Despair and Hope alone. I want to see Princess Tutu break down."

Sylvie nodded and bowed low. "All right, master," she said before getting up and leaving. _"Humans are selfish and have no humanity." That is right, I know it. My village turned their back on me because I didn't enjoy the same things they did; because I was different. They have no humanity . . . but why did the Prince protect the Raven Princess when I tried to kill her? Why did the Prince not tell me where the Raven Princess was, if he did know? Why was Princess Tutu protecting him?_

Sylvie slammed her fist into the castle wall. _Why am I doubting myself? Where has my resolve gone?! _Her hand went over the star-shaped pendant. _Damn Shard! Making me think such things!_

Act 5: End

**Whoo! New chapter! Who's the master? What's with the star-shaped pendant around Sylvie's neck? What does the 'master' have planned for Ahiru and her friends? Gosh, I just love writing this kinds of stuff! :3 Anyway, hope you enjoyed!**


	7. Act 6: It Doesn't Matter: The Despair

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, James Birdsong and BlueForestAngelCat. :) I'm being under apreciative about the authors that added this to their favorites and alerts, so here I go. Thanks, SnowyReverie, for adding this to your favorites. Also, thanks to BlueForestAngelCat, Dragoneye2006, Sumomo Kotoko, and Zelha for adding this to their watch. ^^**

**Disclaimer: Me, owning Princess Tutu? BWAHAHAHAHA! Is my name Drosselmeyer? No, it's Kaito Lune! So, you can assume that I don't own Princess Tutu.**

**Princess Tutu**

**Hour of the Swan**

Act 6:

"It Doesn't Matter" The Despair

Worry was eating at her for the past four days and she had been having dreams where Fakir had never woken up. Despite her friends comforting, Ahiru still felt on edge but Ahiru was eternally grateful. If it hadn't been for them showing that they cared, she would have gone nuts. Over the few days, she noticed that whenever Mytho was with her, it was different. She wasn't blushing as hard, her heart wasn't strained as much. _It must be because I'm so worried about Fakir, _she decided but doubt clouded her mind. _Or . . . is it something else?_

Mytho's and Rue's encouragement, she still couldn't help but have troubles with keeping his condition out of her mind. Professor Neko had noticed it in her dance and allowed her some slack. That very day, Ahiru was called by the cat instructor after class. "Miss Ahiru," he began. "I've noticed that you have been a bit preoccupied with something. Has it to do with something with Mr. Fakir being comatose?"

"Yes," Ahiru answered, her eyes downcast.

Professor Neko turned towards her. "I see," he simply said, walking past her towards his desk. "You're worried."

"Yes."

"You have little faith in him, Miss Ahiru," Professor Neko said. Ahiru looked up surprised by the conclusion that her instructor had came to. "Mr. Fakir has been under my instruction for a long time," the cat continued, back still turned to her. "He had fallen but always came back up, never giving up. Mr. Fakir isn't one to bow down to failure easily. That confidence has allowed him to become a strong dancer. You shouldn't doubt that for a minute."

Ahiru opened her mouth to say something before closing it. He was right; Fakir had been confident and never did give up. When she had tried to stand against him while returning Mytho's heart, he never stopped trying to stop her. Even when Fakir's role in the story was over, he didn't stop fighting for a happy ending. _He wouldn't stop trying to fight! I shouldn't doubt him,_ she told herself, standing up straight. "Thank you, Professor Neko!" She went to leave but the teacher stopped her.

"Miss Ahiru," he said, "there's something else isn't there? Something like love?"

"Uh," was all the redhead could answer.

The teacher's eyes flashed before getting over it. "You are torn, aren't you?"

Ahiru looked down. "I guess," she said. Professor Neko's eyes glittered, assuming that one of the two she was torn between were him and someone else.

"Well, Professor Neko," she began. "I've liked this one boy for a long time, but I've never been able to say it. Now he has something else and I still love him . . . but I also like someone else. I think I'm falling out of love with the first but I think it's my worry for the other that's doing it. I-I don't know." Ahiru looked up and noticed the devastated look on her teacher's face. "Um, Professor?"

Professor Neko shook his head and recomposed himself. "I don't know the answer," was all he said, looking her in the eye. "Figure out what your heart says, after all, it's the one thing that knows the answers. Now go and figure it out, Miss Ahiru."

"Right. Thanks, Professor Neko!" Ahiru ran out of the room towards the changing rooms so she could catch up with her friends.

With the girl out of the room, Professor Neko went into a frenzy and began rolling around the room before scratching a wooden board that appeared out of nowhere.

~X~*~X~

"What took you?" asked Rue, slightly annoyed by her taking so long. Ahiru hadn't been told to stay for extra practice so there was no point in staying late.

"Sorry, Rue," answered Ahiru with a smile. The dark haired girl noticed that she seemed a bit more light on her feet as if a burden had been lifted off her shoulders. Rue just hoped that she wasn't too light on her feet so that she would trip all over them.

"Well, let's go," suggested Mytho. The three began walking towards the dorms when they came to a stop, noticing Uzura and Charon standing by the fountain right between the gates of the boys' and girls' dorms. The three ran to him, guessing something wasn't right.

"It's Fakir," exclaimed the blacksmith with a huge smile. "He's awake! He just awoke an hour before I got here."

Uzura banged her drum with excitement, noticing the cheers and excited looks on the three's faces. Ahiru began tearing down the road but Charon called after her, saying she was going the wrong way. It was a half hour later when they got to the doctor's where Fakir had been resting for the past four days. They all walked in with smiles and flowers. Fakir looked up from his book with a blank stare.

"Fakir, how are you?" asked Mytho, sitting in a chair on one side of the dark haired boy.

"Been better," the boy answered bleakly.

Ahiru blinked. Fakir had never sounded like this before. She put it aside and walked over to him, handing the vase containing the flowers that they had picked up on their way. "Here you are," she said. "We're all glad you're all right."

The flowers slipped from his grasp as she handed it to him and spilled all over the bed sheet. Ahiru nearly quacked but held it in. The three were ready to hear a rant from Fakir about Ahiru being careful but it never came. This bothered them all.

"Aren't you going to call me an idiot?" asked Ahiru, mimicking a face that Fakir would make when he was warning her about things.

Unblinking, Fakir turned back to his book. "It won't matter," he said blankly. "You have no hope of changing." Normally Ahiru would have went off about that but this time, she didn't.

The way he said it unnerved Mytho. "Are you okay?" asked Mytho. "You don't seem to be yourself. Maybe it's the side effect of waking up after four days of sleep." The boy made no reply.

At that moment, the doctor came into the room and announced that Fakir could go home. The boy made no response, again. Rue was puzzled by this. She furrowed her brows. She had known Fakir longer than Ahiru had known him. The boy was quiet and cynical but never acted like this. It was like he had lost all hope, like he was in despair. What had happened? She looked towards Ahiru.

The redhead hadn't noticed- or she had but was too happy that he had awoken, that she didn't think that it wasn't any big thing and would get over it in a few hours and begin ranting on her about being careful about handling things.

Mytho noticed her puzzling. He walked slower so he would keep pace with her while the others walked ahead. "Rue?" he asked.

The dark haired girl stopped for a minute and looked towards her lover. "Yes?"

"You look worried. Is something wrong?" The prince had a concerned look on his face.

Rue knew better than to keep anything from him. "It's about Fakir," she said. "He's been acting strange ever since we got here. I don't think that him acting like this is really him but part of the story."

Mytho took that into consideration. "That's a possibility," he acknowledged. "What can we do about it now, though? We don't know what's even affecting him. There's a possibility that it's a Mirror Shard but what can we do about it? The only one who can is Princess Tutu and Ahiru hasn't even noticed that her pendant glows around it. Drosselmeyer must have something planned."

Rue nodded. "We have to be careful," she said, before the two ran off to catch up with the others.

~X~*~X~

When they returned to Charon's house, Rue had a few questions. While Fakir had been unconscious, Rue had told them about the story and Ahiru and Mytho told Rue that Silence was the same girl that had attacked them in the kingdom and that her name was Sylvie. Rue had made it her goal to ask Fakir about the story when he had awoken.

"Fakir, the story you burned was of your own writing," the girl said. "It turns out that girl that had attacked us as Silence _and _Sylvie was apart of the story you wrote. Do you happen to know who she is?"

Fakir shook his head. "I never heard of the name," he answered with a far away look in his eyes.

"Fakir, if you wrote the story and left it with an open ending, you should be able to finish it!" suggested Ahiru.

"First we need to find the writer," pointed out Mytho, "but how do we find him?"

"Maybe there's another writing machine somewhere?"

"If that's the case, how come it hasn't been used until now?"

"Just been built?"

Fakir, who had been sitting quietly at the table, stood up abruptly. "It doesn't matter," he said in a solid voice.

"Huh?" all three asked.

"It doesn't matter," he repeated, looking them all in the eye. Ahiru noticed that his right eye had a strange purple spark shining in it. "We won't be able to fight what we don't know. We might as well quit as we're ahead. What's the point? We're all going to lose eventually. We should let Drosselmeyer have his way and get it over with."

Mytho and Rue stood up. "What are you talking about?" Rue demanded, angry.

"Fakir, what made you come to this conclusion?" Mytho asked, concerned.

The older boy didn't answer their questions. "It won't matter," Fakir continued with a scared face. "Drosselmeyer will keep trying to get his unhappy ending and he will eventually win. Besides, we'll all die eventually. So, what's the point?"

_Fakir,_ Ahiru thought. The boy began running out of the room and into the street. Rue sat down and crossed her arms. Mytho walked towards the door and watched him go. Ahiru sighed as worry overcame her again. As she looked down at her pendant, she caught a glimpse of fading gold light from it. "A Mirror Shard!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet. _Could it be that . . .?_

"A Mirror Shard?" repeated the prince and his princess. They looked at each other.

"That explains Fakir's strange acting," said Rue. "Could it be . . . Despair or Love?" Rue remembered the two shard's warning: _"Be careful of Despair and Love."_

"It has to be Despair," said Mytho. Ahiru's eyes widened. Before anyone knew it, she had taken off out of the house. She ran towards the left and began heading towards any place she could think of where Fakir had disappeared to. Rue and Mytho had torn off after her and were only a few yards behind her.

~X~*~X~

Drosselmeyer rocked in his chair. Despite not being able to write the story, he liked the kind of drama it was getting to. "If only I could write this story," he chortled, watching the gear. He could see the three of the four protagonists running down a street as they desperately tried to look for his descendent. "If I was writing it, I would have it come to a spectacular ending here."

A second later, the gear in front of him moved out of the way and a new one came before him. A pair of black eyes peered at him through it. "Drosselmeyer," he said. The writer lurched forwards. It wasn't often that a character from a story would contact _him_. It was normally the other way around.

"Oh, you're the so called 'master' of little Silence?" he asked with a slow smile appearing on his face. "What may I do for you? How is it coming along?"

The pair of eyes gave out a long sigh. "It's beyond me how you're able to do such a thing," answered the voice. "I thank you for suggesting this idea to me, but I find it too tiring, even though I have no physical body- yet."

Drosselmeyer chortled. "You and I have much in common," he said. "We both like chaos- mine in unhappy endings and you in watching them suffer. I'm sure I could find a suiting ending."

The pair of eyes widened in pleasure. "That I know you can," answered the voice. "And that's where I come to ask _you _to finish the story. The one I have is slowly running out of ink and I doubt my servant is having a good time holding true to her goal. With that, I won't be able to control the story anymore. I ask you to take it upon yourself to finish up the story."

Drosselmeyer smiled wickedly. A chance to finish up his tragedy that was stolen out from under his nose was now on it's way to being complete. Drosselmeyer nodded. "First, I need you to have little Silence put my contraption back together."

Act 6: End.

**OH CRAP!! Is Drosselmeyer going to be able to finish his story? If he is able to, will Ahiru, Mytho, Fakir, and Rue be able to survive his ending? If Fakir has a Mirror Shard, how are they going to be able to help him if words won't work? What kind of ending will Drosselmeyer produce? Wait for the next chapter! Expect it sometime in April, okay?**


	8. Act 7: Hope's Wings: Blazing Light

**A/N: Ya know what? I lied! Happy reading everybody! :D**

**Disclaimer: Princess Tutu belongs to whoever owns it- aka NOT ME!**

**Princess Tutu**

**Hour of the Swan**

Act 7:

"Hope's Wings" Blazing Light

Sylvie had been walking in the city streets. It had yet to grow dark but only an hour ago, the school had let out for the weekend and gossip had filled the streets. Normally, Sylvie never had went among the people of the streets since she hated humanity with all her heart but that hatred was waning. This bothered her. When Sylvie was alone, she felt . . . lonely. It hadn't been like that for a long time. It scared her, being alone know.

Shaking her head, Sylvie continued walking. She passed a group of girl squealing about a prince coming to stay in Kinkan in hopes of choosing a bride. _Why am I so needy for being among those I hate?_ she wondered.

_"Sylvie, you are needed," _a voice boomed from nowhere but everywhere at once. No one seemed to notice but Sylvie jumped in surprise. The voice cackled. _"You are jumpy from your master's voice?"_

Sylvie sighed and dashed into the nearest ally way. At the end of the ally was a door that seemed out of place. The brown haired girl opened it shakily, looking back at the street. Her heart began filling with loneliness. Sylvie smacked her head and cursed herself for being weak. She entered the door, appearing on the other side. The door vanished once it shut.

Sylvie found herself in a stone wall where her master stood waiting for her. "Yes?" she asked, kneeling before the giant shadow. The black eyes stared down amusedly at her.

"You are lonely, aren't you?" he asked, but it sounded more like a statement. "Feeling lonely without those rats?"

"N-no!" she shouted but her voice betrayed her. "I want them all to be vanquished!"

"Then why do you hesitate to come to me?" her master asked. "Sylvie, if you truly hate them, I ask one favor of you."

"What is it, Master?" Sylvie asked hastily, wanting to get her job before he decided to poke fun at her confusion. That was the one thing about her master that she couldn't stand: he always knew what she was feeling and always made it worse.

"Repair a machine in the clock tower," the shadow instructed her. "Remember that writer that gave you your pendant that allows you to turn into Silence? He wants to finish this story."

Sylvie's temper flared. "_HIM?_" she cried. "That crazed old man?! He's the worst kind out there! Besides what good will a repaired machine do any-?"

"SILENCE!" commanded the shadow. Sylvie's unknown master had never acted like so before and she shut her mouth and cowered slightly. Flames burst from the dead torches and illuminated the room. "You may be the protagonist of this story but you'll do as I say, you stupid, pathetic human! You will go and fix the machine in the clock tower and you fill follow what he writes- EVEN IF IT MEANS THAT YOU WILL GIVE YOUR LIFE!"

Sylvie was so scared, she couldn't even cry out of fear. She was just numb. She wrapped her arms around herself.

"Well?" her master demanded, his temper still high.

Chalk white, Sylvie nodded and squeaked, "Yes." She stood up shakily and scrambled out of the room. When she left, she finally broke down and began crying. _Is my dream really what I wanted?_ she wondered through tears.

~X~*~X~

Ahiru, Mytho, and Rue finally stopped in a deserted street. They had been searching until dusk illuminated the city in shades of red. They had no luck trying to find Fakir. "Are you sure he went this way?" asked Rue.

"No," admitted Ahiru, looking around. She sighed. "Fakir!" she called. "Where are you?" There was no answer.

The three began searching again. Suddenly, a bright glow from Ahiru's necklace caught their attention. Startled, they followed it into an ally all in high hopes but it fell as they noticed it wasn't who they thought it was. Instead, it was a girl with brown hair and purple eyes. They all got ready for an attack but Mytho saw her face. Her eyes were red and puffy and tear stains ran down her cheeks. Had she been crying?

"_You_!" she halfheartedly growled. In a flash of light, she turned into the red knight named Silence and took off by jumping over them, her cape billowing behind her.

"Wait!" cried Ahiru. In a second flash of light, Ahiru had turned into Princess Tutu and went after her.

Mytho and Rue ran after them. Rue had an uneasy feeling, as if something inside her wanted out. A flash of the dream she had had flashed through her mind. Her legs froze and she fell to the ground. Mytho came to a stop and turned to look at her. "Rue?" he asked. When everything was falling apart, he could help but be afraid something else was going to go wrong.

_"You can't escape us. You are a raven. You can't escape who you are. You are Kraehe, no matter what you do."_ Rue hugged her body as her mind flashed to the mental image of her reflection in the mirror: Kraehe. Rue held her hand up to her mouth as she shook. Mytho ran to her and hugged her. "Rue? Are you okay? Rue!" His voice was full of worry.

The fear subsided after a few more minutes and she looked up into his concerned eyes. "Rue? What's wrong?"

"Kraehe," was all Rue answered.

Mytho understood her fear. Kraehe was part of her past of being the Raven's daughter. As Kraehe, she had caused so much pain and sorrow to her friends that she had feared her raven blood. She had even often shied away from talking about ravens. Mytho could understand because he too had raven's blood but he accepted it as who he was, even though he felt guilty about everything he had done under its influences. He hugged her tighter.

"Rue, Kraehe is _part _of you," he said, "just as much as the raven's blood is part of me. We can't do anything about it now. Kraehe is part of you, the Raven Princess. You can't be afraid of what you are."

Rue didn't answer.

Mytho continued. "Kraehe is part of you but _not _entirely you. You are Rue, the Prince's love and the Raven Princess. You can shun those parts about you, you can run away but only for so long. My dear Rue, you can change the image of them, though. You may have the raven's blood but you aren't evil because of it."

Rue looked up at him with teary eyes. He had a grim smile on his face. _I can't freeze up now, _she thought to herself. _I have to help the people I care about._ Rue got up with Mytho's help, wiped away tears and said, "Thank you, Mytho." Mytho nodded and the two ran off in the direction where Silence and Tutu disappeared.

~X~*~X~

Princess Tutu and Silence stopped right in front of the clock tower. "Wait, Sylvie!" cried the prima donna.

Silence rounded on the roof and glared back at her. "Why do you follow me?" she exclaimed.

Princess Tutu didn't answer. "Why . . . why do you wish for humanity to disappear?" she asked. "What happened to you?" Tutu began to slowly approach the knight. In response, she quickly drew her sword.

"Stay away!" she growled, pulling out her sword and jumping off. Tutu followed her despite her protests that followed behind her. Eventually the two came to the clock tower. Silence stopped right in front of it and looked upwards at the tower. _This is where I need to be? This is where the machine is? Can . . . can I really do this?_

"Lost in despair?" asked a melancholy voice from behind her. Snapping out of her thoughts, Silence spun around and grabbed the boy who had startled her and put her fencing style sword to his throat.

The ballerina had jumped down from the top of the building and landed in a light spin. She gasped, since Fakir had been pulled into her grasp and was being held hostage, poised and ready to be gutted. "Sylvie! Please back away from there! You can't-!" pleaded Tutu, stepping forwards and extending an arm.

Sylvie got the idea that was crossing the girl's mind and decided to use it to her advantage. "Come any closer and I'll cut his throat!" Even though it sounded halfhearted, the threat got the point across.

Fear rolled in her mind. _What can I do? How did Fakir appear here? _she thought.

Mytho and Rue came into the square before the clock tower. They both stopped short, noticing the boy having a sword held to his throat. Fakir didn't seem to care. "Let him go!" demanded Mytho angrily. "What do you want with the clock tower?"

Rue's blood began to stir again but she ignored it. Silence just stood transfixed on the spot before her. _"Don't kill him!" _screeched a voice in her head. _"Get the machine fixed!"_ Silence understood the threat from her master. She shoved Fakir away and ran for the clock tower. Tutu ran to catch him.

"Fakir! Are you all right?" she asked.

Angrily, Fakir pushed her away. "Leave me alone? Why don't you get it?" he screamed before running off in a different direction.

"Fakir! Fakir, WAIT!" the redhead ran after him despite the danger of the red knight going towards the clock tower where the writing machine was being held. Without hesitation, Rue looked up. She sped off after the knight and Mytho ran after her. Rue clutched her heart. _I have to stop her! This must be way she wanted me dead in the beginning! She was afraid of me getting in the way of her winning but what does that have to do with my Raven's blood running through my veins?_

~X~*~X~

Princess Tutu followed after the running teen. A billion thoughts running through her head. _The Mirror Shard, it's been there all along! Why didn't I notice it before? Why didn't the necklace pick up on it? Could I have missed it?_ she thought. Finally, they got to the place where the place where Fakir had been pulled into the oak. Why had he ran to this place?

Princess Tutu jumped towards him, blocking his path. "Fakir," she said, pained. "I-I . . ." She twirled her hands above her head and offered it towards the boy. "Will you dance with me?"

Fakir just backed up. "I know what happens when you dance," he said. "What's the point in fighting the story? You'll only end up turning back into a duck– if you got lucky."

"F-Fakir, there's a possibility that I may not," she pointed out, taking a step forwards. "You have a Mirror Shard in you. You've been acting differently because of it." Ahiru knew he was correct about her not wanting to become a duck again.

The ex-knight didn't respond right away.

"If you dance with me, I can turn everything back to normal," Princess Tutu offered. Walking up to him.

"And you'd turn back into a duck," he said resentfully, as if it pained him. "I've tried to write an ending for you and I, but it never worked. If you turn back into a duck, I have no hope of giving an ending rightfully yours."

"I-it's all right."

"No! It isn't!" he yelled, shoving her away. "I know you hated not being human! You were just holding it all back! You're hopeless Ahiru! This story is hopeless! The ending won't be good."

"We can fight it!"

"NO WE CAN'T!" he screamed. From beneath him, the scenery began to change. The air felt heavier and a mist descended down on them. Tutu found herself standing on an open field covered with snow. Pillars of ice spurted out of the ground, making her jump out of the way so she wouldn't have been skewered. The pillars arched towards a platform of white stone covered by snow. On top of it, the only signs of life were black marigolds and bellwort flowers climbing up the stone where Fakir stood.

"Fakir!" screamed Tutu, running towards him but a pillar of ice popped out of the ground. In the distance, there was a cackling of a voice of a woman. She appeared on top of the pillar of ice, smirking down at Princess Tutu before disappearing. The prima donna jumped onto a low ice pillar before jumping to a higher one. She kept doing this until she could look down at the huge platform of stone. A harsh wind nearly blew her over but she stood strong.

Not even for a second did she notice that it was supposed to be cold. All she cared about was getting through the ice field and getting to Fakir.

Below, she saw the exact same woman that had sneered down at her was dancing around Fakir, who just sat against a stone pillar that was wrapped in dead vines. The woman didn't seem to have a feature on her but from what she could see, the figure had long hair and a flowing dress. Fakir was just staring at the ground. As the woman danced through the snow, she gave off a faint purple glow. The figure danced and the flowers began snaking their way towards the boy.

"You know you can't win," said the woman. "It's hopeless to fight it. You won't be able to save her from her ending. You never could save her from being a duck."

"I could never do that," he repeated as if all the hope was being pulled out of him. The flowers began sneaking up more quickly and began entangling themselves around his feet.

"FAKIR! NO!" Princess Tutu jumped from her perch and landed gracefully, emitting a soft gold light. As she landed, a burst of feathers danced around her before disappearing. She began twirling and dancing around him. "Fakir, you can't have hopelessness drown you. We can fight this, together."

"What's the point?" Fakir asked, remaining unmoving. "I've just been useless. I couldn't save Mytho from the ravens and I couldn't bring you a happy ending like you deserved."

"No, that's not true." Princess Tutu began flapping her arms before spinning around. "You helped me accept that I would return to my true self, just as you had. You helped me survive the ending, if it wasn't because of you, I would have been the ravens' food."

There was a glint of gold in his eye and he looked up for the first time. The dancing woman stopped what she was doing. The roots and flowers had began to recede. The figure gave a loud hiss before a giant vine appeared out of the ground and wrapped itself around the ballerina. The woman danced her way over to Fakir and she wrapped her arms around his neck and began whispering in his ear. "You're just a useless knight," she reminded him. "You can't do anything to save your friends. What can a knight who can't even fill his role correctly do with a pen and paper? It's hopeless."

The gold glint disappeared and was replaced by a purple one. His eyes became hollow. In a flash, the roots shot forwards and wrapped themselves around the boy until they were waist high. The woman smiled and began dancing around him again. "There is nothing you can do." Her dance was one of taunting and cruel ridicule mixed with a bit of despair of its own.

Princess Tutu began to struggle from her suspended wrap. As hard as she struggled, tears began to roll down her eyes. She was so close to saving him, now that she was trapped, she couldn't do anything. The vine's grip was too strong. The flowers of doubt wound their way up the boy's figure as he stared hopelessly down at the ground. The scene from the oak tree flashed through her mind. If Fakir was fully engulfed in the flowers, would he be lost? Would she loose him, this time forever?

_No, that can't happen, _she thought to herself. _But what can I do? I can't even get out of here. _She dropped her head and stopped struggling. _I can't loose someone I love but what can I do?_ Snapping her head up, Princess Tutu's eyes widened at her sudden realization. The reason why . . . _I have to save him from despair, _she reminded herself. _With him by my side, I feel like anything could be through our way and I'd still stand tall because of him. That's the hope he had given me. It's time I give it back to him._

The gem around her neck began giving off a faint yellow light. The vine's grip around her loosened and adjusted itself so that it was a level surface for Princess Tutu to stand up on. White petals of flowers began to dance around Tutu as she landed on the stone lightly. She began to spin and dance, hope filling her dance. "Once I didn't have any hope too. I was drowning in a lake, afraid of turning back into my true self. Hopeless and despair were with me while I tried to save Mytho's from Kraehe when she had him and the Heartshard of Love. It was because of your sacrifice and you never giving up."

This didn't seemed to help any but the entanglement of the roots slowed, just before consuming his eyes. He looked up, eyes still hollow.

"You didn't give up in the end. You kept fighting for a happy ending." Princess Tutu kept going. Her dance reminded him about the times when he was with Ahiru. His doubt about being needed anymore. When his role had been finished in the previous story, he wasn't sure that Ahiru could finish it herself. He remembered in the final battle against the Raven that the hope that Ahiru was feeling expanding to him and the pen in his hands. That hope had kept him going through that story, even when it seemed bleak.

The figure gave out a screech as the plants began dying around him. He had gotten up and began heading towards Tutu. The woman stepped into his way and grabbed his hands and began dancing with him, despair had began trying to make its way into his heart but it didn't have as much of an effect. Recoiling, the purple figure backed away as Fakir made his way passed her. Princess Tutu stopped dancing when Fakir was right next to her.

She tried to keep herself from tears of joy as the bleak look on his face began to slowly disappear. She offered a hand to him. He took it and the two began dancing. Hope and happiness began to wash over both of them, cleansing the doubt. They began dancing a pas de deux. Spinning, lifting, dancing. "I can't believe how I could forget myself like I did," he said. "The person who I was and the hope . . . Thank you." The snow and ice melted into a field of irises that scattered in a light breeze.

The figure didn't try to get in their way. She just disappeared in a small glitter with a trace of a smile.

The two finally finished, both sets of hands resting on Fakir's heart. When they removed them, a purple orb came out and floated in the ballerina's hands and turned into a shard of glass. In a flash of light, the shard went into the necklace and Tutu turned back into Ahiru. They stood there in silence.

"Ahiru . . . I'm sorry about how I acted."

Ahiru blinked. "N-no, it's my fault," she denied, bowing her head. "I hadn't noticed the shard there. I'm sure my necklace alerted me to it before but I hadn't noticed. If I had, then we could have adverted this."

Fakir closed his eyes and shook his head, a small smile on his face. "Moron. Don't think about it," he said, placing a hand on her head. "There's nothing we can do to change our past but we can stop whatever ending is coming our way."

Ahiru looked up through her bangs. A sudden bubbly feeling filled her heart and she smiled back. Both wished for something like this forever but once they did, an ominous presence snapped them back into reality. The field disappeared and they were back in the place where the oak tree once had been. Mist rolled across the town and Fakir stood in front of Ahiru protectively.

"Wh-what's going on?" she asked, recognizing the feeling of being hooked up to strings.

"Drosselmeyer," muttered Fakir, glaring up at the sky at something that Ahiru didn't see. The wind began to suddenly howl in every direction. A chortle made them look up at the dark sky. A set of eyes looked down at them. They sparkled gleefully.

"Now, let the ending commence," Drosselmeyer's voice echoed across the town.

"What do you mean?" shouted Fakir. "What do you have planned?!"

Drosselmeyer just glanced down at them, a smile appearing in the sky. "You'll see, my dear descendent," he answered wickedly.

The shadow then disappeared and thundering footsteps alerted the two of them. Looking back, they found soldiers surrounding them. One reached for Ahiru and pulled her towards him. Fakir ran at him demanding, "Get your hands off her!" A second soldier just knocked him aside with the staff of his spear. He fell to the ground but shot right back up and ran towards the soldier, grabbing his spear and jerking it away from him.

Fakir used the staff of the spear to knock the soldier that ran towards him to the ground unconscious as he ran towards the soldier that was pulling Ahiru away. "Let her go!" he demanded again but when he got to the wall of soldiers, they blocked his exit with their spears.

"The prince wants her," said one soldier. "Don't get in his way."

Ahiru tried fighting off the soldier but he was too strong. Dragging her away, she cried, "Fakir! Help!" Fakir tried fighting his way through the crowd but they overpowered him, sending him to the ground, knocked out. They left him as they followed the other one.

~X~*~X~

Rain began falling only minutes after the boy had been knocked out. Drosselmeyer sat comfortably in his rocking chair, glad that he was once again empowered. "My, my," he said to himself. "One part ends and an other begins. Where is Ahiru being taken?" The question was rhetorical; he already knew where the heroine was being taken but did little Fakir know? Drosselmeyer tapped his fingertips together contently. "My master piece will be better than_ The Prince and the Raven_. How will my characters play out their tragic ending? I thank you dear Sylvie for allowing me to finish up my master piece."

From a gear next to him, a growl echoed from a black nothingness. "Don't forget our deal," reminded the set of eyes, who himself chortled.

"I will, my demon," responded the writer with a smile. "In all do time."

Act 7: End.

**Well, crap. Drosselmeyer's back in control. What of Rue, Mytho, and Silence? Check in next chapter!**


	9. Act 8: Silence: Cursed Prince

**A/N: Well, hope everyone's enjoying so far. Thank you to James Birdsong and BlueAngelForestCat for reviewing. This chapter is taking place along the last one. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Princess Tutu belongs to someone else. If I had own Princess Tutu, it would have a different theme to it since I don't know much about ballet. ^^;**

**Princess Tutu**

**Hour of the Swan**

Act 8:

"Silence" Cursed Prince

Rue, with Mytho right behind her, ran up the staircase right after Silence. "Stop!" commanded the girl. "You don't know what you're doing!"

Silence didn't answer. She just ran up the pull down the stairs that lead up to the secret room where the writing machine had been sitting for months, gathering dust. Going up winding stair cases, the red knight came upon the room where her master had directed her. The smell of must filled the room. From the constant open window, various birds and bats had taken the place as home. The foul smell of bird droppings filled the room, making Silence cover her nose. "That's what my master wanted to repair?" she said to herself.

_"Put the necklace on the machine. NOW! Before the interlopers come in!"_ shouted her master's voice around her.

Going chalk white, she hesitated in taking off the one thing that gave her power. Silence putted it on the table where the shambles of the destroyed wood rested. In a sparkle of red, she turned back into Sylvie. The echoing footsteps from below began growing loud until the shout of stop was right at the door. "DON'T!" screamed Rue and Mytho. Too late. A flash of red light illuminated the room, blinding everyone.

The machine had been fixed.

~X~*~X~

Drosselmeyer grinned to himself as he looked through the gear at the events going on. "Good, good," he said. "Now I just have to begin from where everything left off."

~X~*~X~

Suddenly, time stopped around them. A pair of shadowy eyes peered at them. He cackled. "Drosselmeyer," said Mytho and Rue in unwelcome tones.

"Well, now, I can have my fun," cackled Drosselmeyer. "My, my, my. I have much I have to do. Set this story right. Too bad I can't start right away."

"If that's the case, we'll destroy it now!" shouted Mytho, grabbing a loose pole and ran towards the writing machine. He was poised to destroy it but a mass of birds made her drop to the ground to escape their beaks and talons. They hovered overhead in the air or sat around close to the machine or the boy, as if they were the machine's guardians.

"What's the meaning of this?" demanded Rue.

Drosselmeyer laughed. "The birds will protect the machine until I'm ready to use it. Now, little Sylvie," a clock appeared and a weird looking puppet walked through. It's wooden feet clicked across the ground and headed towards the pendant. The puppet picked it up and handed it to Sylvie. "I want you to make an amazing beginning to a tragedy. Give me your best and take your revenge against humanity. Give me a true ending to 'The Prince and the Raven'!"

Sylvie hesitantly took the small star-shaped necklace. _That's right, I want to get revenge against humanity, _she reminded herself. Putting on a determined face and grabbed the necklace. Spinning on her heels, Sylvie dropped the necklace around her neck and screamed a war cry. In a flash of light, she turned into the red knight. Silence stood ready. "Raise your sword, Prince," she said, pulling out her own.

Mytho pushed himself up, grabbing the pole tightly in his hands. "If that's what you insist," the prince answered in a hard voice. In a second flash of light, they found themselves in a new place. The room extended and melted into a bigger room full of gears latched together like the inner workings of a clock. Mytho and Silence both found themselves on a single large gear while Rue found herself on a different one, watching the fight from below.

The birds sat, perched around the gears and wheels of the arena as if they were an audience. Rue glanced around, looking for the writing machine. There had to be a way to a way to stop the story before it started. It was then she noticed it a good hundred feet above her head. Narrowing her eyes, she began looking for a way to climb it.

Meanwhile, down below, Mytho found him dressed in a blue tunic and crown, holding a sword with a swan themed hilt. Taking a stance before the two began their duel, he questioned, "Why are you doing this? What do you want revenge for?"

"Like you would understand," she seethed, racing forwards. Mytho used the pole to block her sword before dancing away. Silence kept coming and Mytho easily deflected her attacks, danced away, or got her sword out of her hands. Silence would go for her sword, dodging a blow from Mytho and roll to her feet before jumping right back in.

Rue took glances back as she carefully climbed the gears. She almost was half way up. After heaving herself up to the next gear, she took another glance at the battle below. Mytho was winning easily next to the girl. Her movements seemed…different somehow. Even though she knew nothing about sword fighting in any form, Rue could see that her footing was sloppy and her strokes seemed halfhearted. Something was raging through the girl's mind. _Mytho will win, _she said to herself. That gave her enough to push on towards the top.

_~X~*~X~

Through his gears, Drosselmeyer watched as Rue made her way up towards the top. He tut-tutted in disapproval. "Now, now, we can't have that," Drosselmeyer said in a playful dissatisfied tone. "Not good, not good. I can't let that happen before the story even can continue."

He flicked a finer.

~X~*~X~

The birds snapped their heads towards where the machine was. Rue had made her way up to it, they began flying upwards towards her. Rue stopped what she was doing as she heard the massive flaps of wings. She ducked as the flew over her. She covered her head with her arms and took glances as the cloud of black, grey, white, brown, red, and yellow flew over head and headed back towards a the battle below.

Rue gasped and ran to the edge to watch as the birds head for Mytho and began transform into puppet-like beings and attack the prince. Mytho easily fought them off but it had given Silence an advantage. She went in for the kill, rushing in and poising her sword for his heart. Mytho had barely any time to react.

Silence, last minute froze and her sword grazed Mytho's side, making a small cut and causing Mytho to wince. Silence collapsed onto her knees and dropped her sword, shivering and shaking hard. _Why am I hesitating? Why am I hurting so much? Why am I afraid of hurting? _"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?!" she roared, confused tears draining down her face. "WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO ME?!"

While the girl knight was screaming to herself and Mytho was unable to stand easily, an entire group of the puppet birds went in for the kill.

"MYTHO!" screamed Rue, adrenaline rushing through her veins. Mytho couldn't die now! He just couldn't! _I can't let him die! _Without thinking, she jumped. Soon that rush of adrenaline became much more powerful. In a whirlwind of black wind and raven feathers, Rue became a girl that was a bit older, wearing a gothic black tutu that looked as if it was made out of raven feathers. Her black hair had been put up with a huge strand standing up on the back of her head like a single feather. Kraehe twirled safely to the ground. She leapt at them, flinging raven feathers at where their hearts would be.

The puppets clattered and turned back into birds that fell to the ground. Mytho looked up. "K-Kraehe?" he asked. "Rue?"

Kraehe smiled down at him sadly. "Are you okay, Mytho?" she asked. Mytho gave her a smile back and forced himself into a standing position. Wincing, he fell back to the ground. Kraehe offered a hand and helped him up. A small amount of strength flew through him, allowing him to overcome his pain until it was numb. He allowed the raven prima donna to spin in his grasp.

"You've understood now, Rue, don't you?" he asked.

Kraehe came to a stop and looked Mytho in the eye. "Yes," she nodded. "I can't shun what I was or what is part of me. I can't change what Kraehe represented but I _can_ change what it represents now."

The two broke away and turned to face Silence who was still on her knees in conflict. "Sylvie?" asked Kraehe. "Do you give up?"

Silence glanced up. She narrowed her eyes and began reaching for her sword but stopped, gasping. Silence held her head in her hands as tears streaked down her face. "Why can't I bring myself to pick up the sword?" she sobbed.

"Why do you want to destroy every human?" asked Mytho.

"They… They left me because… I was different," Silence whimpered, moving her hands into her lap and looking at the ground. "Th-They shunned me… just– just because I loved stories… a-and books. They left me to wonder… so I went d-deeper into the s-stories I loved." She sniffed. "E-even though I kept to t-the stories, it was n-never enough."

"You were lonely?" stated Mytho, his voice softening.

"But what gave you the reason to kill humanity?" asked Kraehe, her voice a little sharper than she wanted it too.

"I-I came across a mirror…" Silence sniffed before putter her face in her hands and crying.

It then clicked into Kraehe's mind. "You _were _the story that Fakir had written," the prima donna continued. "_You _were the girl that came across the mirror in the story… The demon in the story… it played on your fears… told you what you didn't want to hear. That no one wanted you and… that they hated you." That made Rue's mind flash back to the Raven, who pretended to be her father and told her that no one could love her besides the Prince and himself– but that had been a lie.

Kraehe gripped her hands into a fist so tight that her nails broke the skin on the palm of her hands. Small blood trails made their way down her hands. _No one should have their fears played with like that,_ she thought bitterly. Kraehe danced her way over to Silence. She came to a stop and gently laid a hand on the top of her head, making the girl knight jerk her head up in confusion. Kraehe twisted her hands above her head and offered a hand. "Will you dance with me?" she asked. "I think it can help."

Silence nodded, taking her hand. The two began dancing. The girl's cape twisted around her. Both expressed grief and pain, locked away for a long time. Silence's was fresh while Kraehe's had been buried and gotten over. The dance wasn't as graceful as ones that Princess Tutu had done as it was more raven like and bird-of-prey-like but still conveyed the feeling of being neglected and hated.

"You can start over," Rue said simply. "I did and so can you."

"You were able to start over? Were you just like me?"

"Yes."

At that moment, Mytho joined them, making the dance a pas de trios. "We all share something in common," Mytho said, taking each girl's hands in his own and allowing them to jump pass him. "We all have been something that we aren't proud of. Rue and I were able to get passed it, can you? Are you willing to forgive yourself and giver yourself a second chance?"

Tears formed in Silence's eyes. "Yes, I have nothing else I can do," she said as a fresh set of rivers rolled down her cheeks. In a flash of red light, the three found themselves as their normal selves in the clock tower room. They looked in the corner and all gasped as they noticed that the machine had disappeared.

"When?" the three gasped.

"We have to go and find Fakir and Ahiru," Mytho said. "We have to warn them!" The prince began trying to leave the room but Rue made him stop. She grabbed him by the arm.

"You're hurt," she reminded him.

"I'm fine," he argued softly, showing her the cut. It had scared over quickly, much quicker than any ordinary wound. "Rue, we don't have time to worry about just me. You, Ahiru, Fakir, Sylvie, and I all have roles. If we can't find a way to stop him before Drosselmeyer gets to them, we won't be able to stop whatever's coming."

Rue refused to believe that he wasn't hurt but that wasn't important. She quietly agreed that alerting the others was more important than a simple wound. She nodded finally and they began flying out of the clock tower.

~X~*~X~

While they had been fighting, rain had started up. Racing through the rain, the three went to Charon's in hopes that either of them had returned. Charon had replied that they hadn't. Mytho had a sinking feeling. "We have to find them," he said, beginning to find some dry clothes and an umbrella. Rue joined them, raiding his armoire for dry clothes before going for umbrellas to shield them from the pouring rain.

"Wait, let me come," Sylvie volunteered, coming up right behind the two and was still soaking wet.

"No," Mytho answered, shaking his head.

Rue pushed her into a chair gently. "If you come across either Fakir or Ahiru, you could startle them into running or needless fighting. With Charon here, he'll be able to explain things before anyone panics," she added.

Sylvie sighed. She wanted to help but the couple were right; if she helped in the search, either of them would assume that she was going to attack her. From what she knew about their redheaded friend, she would have understood without much problem but on the other hand, she knew nothing about the other. Nodding, Sylvie watched as they left.

Charon took a chair next to her. "How about you get changed," the blacksmith suggested, giving her a warm cup of tea. "After that, maybe you can explain to me why my son is out missing in the rain."

Sylvie nodded. It was the least she could do.

~X~*~X~

The dark haired girl and the silver haired boy had been searching for hours in the rain. The droplets had began to slow to only a sprinkle only a few hours of fruitless searching as they scoured through the town. Eventually, they happened across a small grassland behind a building. There, in the middle of the field, was a mass of a body sprawled in the grass. "Fakir!" shouted Mytho, running over to the boy and bending down to check him out.

Fakir was breathing and had a slight fever but otherwise was completely unconscious. Mytho rested the umbrella next to him and began trying to lift the boy to his feet with some difficulty with the size difference. The teen stirred slightly, squinting he glanced around him. "Mytho? Rue?" he asked. "A-Ahiru… she's been…" Fakir was cut off when he fell limp again. They dragged him back to the house and rested Fakir in his bed.

Mytho, Rue, Sylvie, and Charon stood in the kitchen. "Was there any sign of Ahiru?" asked Charon, slightly worried.

Mytho shook his head. "Fakir did say that something happened to Ahiru," he said.

Rue looked over at Sylvie with a frown. "Do you know anything?" she asked. "Whoever you've worked for…?"

"No," the violet eyed girl answered, looking down. "My Master just wanted to see Princess Tutu, your friend Ahiru, to be torn down in his story… before I was told to fix Drosselmeyer's machine so he could write instead of my Master."

"So _that_ was who was writing the story," Mytho said quietly.

Suddenly, there was a slam and a cry of anger. "What?!" shouted Fakir from the doorway, glaring daggers at the girl, making her flinch. "You! You allowed Drosselmeyer to begin writing the story?" Rage burned in the older teen's eyes as he made his way over to the girl, almost ready to kill her. "Do you know what you've done?! Because of you, Ahiru could be being used to that _thing's_ will, getting her ready for whatever death he seems fit for her!"

"Fakir, don't be so harsh!" Mytho shouted, stepping between them. "What are you doing out of bed? You have to be resting!"

Fakir turned his angry gaze towards his childhood friend who didn't even flinch, used to his hateful glance. "I'm fit enough to stand. How can you even defend her? She's set us up!"

"She's seeking redemption," answered Rue, stepping forwards and in between them.

Fakir was about to argue when Charon placed his hands on his adopted son's shoulders. "Let her explain what she knows," he advised. Fakir unwillingly relented and sat down, allowing the girl to look him in the eye with evenness that a seasoned soldier did before entering combat.

~X~*~X~

With a start, Ahiru woke up. Startled from her dream of being kidnapped, she tumbled out of bed. She expected a bit more time before hitting the ground of the hardwood floor but when she realized that it wasn't hardwood, Ahiru really opened her eyes wide. Gasping, she saw that it was an extremely large rug made out of some material that was soft to the touch. Getting up, she looked wildly around. The room wasn't one she had ever seen before.

The room was too large to be one that belonged to anyone in Kikan. The walls were painted a bright yellow. The floor was made of beautiful hardwood. Colorful tapestries hung from the walls and the bed she had fallen from was a giant four poster bed that kings from fairy tales would sleep in. Gaint windows made with stained glass let in the midday sun. Ahiru was literally breathless from the room. "I was kidnapped," she registered.

Deciding to take a look around, Ahiru headed towards the white doors and peaked outside. The hallway had a tall ceiling and was decorated much like her room: yellow walls, giant windows, and colorful tapestries. She walked out and began looking around with a gaping mouth. Eventually, a servant came across her. He gasped. "Oh, you're awake!" he cried, walking towards the girl. "What's your name? The Prince wishes to know before meeting you! But not in that, move, move! Back to your room and wear something decent!"

"Uh… Where am I?" she asked. The servant rolled his eyes.

"You'll find out once you're dressed," he answered, shoving her towards her room. He went through the armoire and pulled out a white silk dress. He shoved it into her hands and left her alone in the room so she could get changed.

Ahiru looked at the dress. "I guess I have no other choice," she decided, taking off her uniform and getting into the dress. Coming out of the room in her dress, the servant made a "humph" noise and began marching her down the corridor. Ahiru eventually was in a giant dinning room. At the end of the long table, a handsome boy that was in his mid teens. His garments were bright gold, red, and white. His eyes were wide blue and his hair was blond.

Ahiru blinked. "Um…" she began. "Did you bring me here?"

The boy nodded quietly and rose. "My name is Lamour. I'm a prince from a kingdom next to yours. I have brought you here in hopes that you would help me."

Ahiru frowned. "How can I help?" she asked.

Lamour got up and walked over to her, taking a hand gently in his. He bent down and kissed it before saying, "I would like you to marry me and break my curse that hurts my heart," he answered.

Ahiru gasped with wide eyes from shock. "HUH?" she exclaimed, blinking rapidly.

~X~*~X~

Drosselmeyer watched through his two gears. He smiled wickedly to himself. "Now, my ending will come to a bitter twist," he said to himself. "My descendent will die and Ahiru will be left to mourn. Too bad I can't do anything more with the little prince and Rue. Oh, wait, I can." He grinned to himself before glancing towards someone that wasn't even there. "What do you think, dear reader? Not a fitting ending for a tale of woe?"

Chapter 8: End.

**Okay, to explain the armoire thing and the closet in the earlier chapters. Well, I had forgotten about that Europeans don't have closets and instead use armoires. Since Princess Tutu is most likely based on a European town in England or Germany, they have to use armoires. Instead, that closet that Rue and Uzura were in was just a storage space. Ahiru kidnapped by a prince and the others have no clue. Now what will happen?**


	10. Act 9: Escapee: The Falling Love

**A/N: Sorry for the **_**really **_**belated chapter! I so sorry! I got sidetracked by other projects and life decided to give me a break. Thank you Bitter Sweet n' Sadness and James Birdsong for reviewing! And now, onto the chapter! :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Princess Tutu. If I did, honestly, I'd have a different ending and I would be rich! Since I'm neither rich nor famous nor getting requests to get a third season, you can assume that I don't own Princess Tutu.**

**Princess Tutu**

**Hour of the Swan**

Chapter 9: "Escapee" The Falling Love

Drosselmeyer tapped his foot impatiently. An entire day had past and the story wasn't progressing at all. He frowned. How long would it take for his dear descendent figure out where Ahiru was being held? How many princes were in town besides Mytho? Deciding that he needed to use a doll to his advantage, he began weaving a doll of his into being and sending it into the story in hopes that he would be of use.

~X~*~X~

Ahiru wandered the castle. She was dressed lavishly in a white gown made out of silk. Lamour had been a gentlemen but she wasn't sure how she could answer his request without hurting his feelings. What she needed to do was find a way out, but how? Where was Fakir? Ahiru couldn't help but worry about the boy. He had been left out in the rain. Then, she remembered what her teacher had said.

_He'll be all right! I just have to believe. I have the Shard of Hope after all,_ Ahiru reminded herself but that didn't ease the worry that much. Her mind began to wander towards the prince. He had said that he was under a curse. What kind of curse? What was hurting his heart? Why her? Deciding to figure that out, Ahiru began trying to find him in the castle. After an hour of searching, she had found Lamour in a music room. He was playing a cello.

The music was sorrowful and full of pain. Raising and falling like a voice trying to express something that words couldn't. Ahiru thought it was so beautiful that she nearly wanted to dance to it. When she attempted to, she noticed that her dress wasn't meant for such a thing and she slipped on the skirt and fell forwards. The girl forced back a quack before looking up. Lamour had stopped his music and was looking at her in surprise.

He gave a smile and set down the cello. He made his way over to her and helped her up. For a second, Ahiru thought she saw a glint of purple in his eyes before she blinked. Glancing down at her pendant, she noticed that it was shinning brightly. She gasped quietly. A shard was nearby!

Lamour cleared his throat and Ahiru stood at attention. "So," he began. "Have you made up your mind?"

Ahiru shook her head. "I'm sorry but I can't…" she answered. _How can I explain that I'm not really a girl and I turn into a duck? Besides, I don't love him as sweet as he is. _"Actually, I've come here to ask you about your curse? Can you tell me about it?"

Lamour shrugged and looked down. He sat back down in his chair. "I'd rather not," he said, picking back up his cello and he started to play.

"Please?" insisted Ahiru. "If I knew, I could find another way to help."

Lamour kept playing and didn't answer. The music was once again mournful, like unrequited love. "You play wonderful music," Ahiru commented. "But why is it so sad? Do you play any other music?"

Lamour stopped playing suddenly and looked up at her with a sorrowful face. "I used to," he answered. "I use to play wonderful music for my fiancée. She and I would do duets with her lovely voice. I loved her dearly and she loved me in return. Oh, my poor Eurdicie. She died by an illness only a week before her fourteenth birthday." Lamour looked at his cello and started to play a soft tune. "I was left to mourn and for a long time, I felt the heavy burden of the loss of love.

I felt hollow on the inside, as if someone had removed my soul and all I was was a walking shell of what I once was. One day, when I was playing my cello out in the garden, a searing pain ran through my heart and before I knew it, I felt as if I could only love something that wasn't there. A voice had whispered to me that the only way to break my curse now was to find someone to love me and direct my love towards."

Ahiru felt bad for the prince. What it was like to permanently loose someone close to you was something the ballerina didn't know but she knew she'd be able to try to help him in anyway she could. "What if you just let that love go?" she asked, hopefully. "I'm sure Eurdicie wouldn't want you to be marrying someone who you didn't know."

Lamour stopped playing in from the girl's advice. He looked at her in urgency. "I can't," he said. "I don't want to be hollow again. I just can't! You have to marry me. There is no other way!"

"I'm sure there is," Ahiru continued in wavering confidence. "I'm sure I could find a–." Lamour stood up suddenly, knocking the cello over onto its side and marched past her with his head downcast to the ground.

"We're getting married this week," he stated. "There's nothing either of us can do. Fate has brought me you. Neither of us have a choice."

Ahiru watched as he past. Tears were streaming down his face and Ahiru couldn't help but feel bad about her pushing. She looked down at her pendant that had stopped glowing. _The Mirror Shard… of Love? _The Shards of Hate and Pride had warned her about this one. There had to be another way to get the shard out of him. _As Princess Tutu!_

In a glimmer of red, Ahiru tried turning into the prima donna but found herself just as herself. Befuddled, she glanced around. "W-why?" she asked. "Why won't I turn into Princess Tutu?"

From above, the shadowed eyes of Drosselmeyer glanced down at her. "Little Ahiru," he tut-tutted. "I won't allow you to ruin the story now. You won't be able to become Princess Tutu yet. It's too early."

Ahiru looked up at him with a determined look. "Mister Drosselmeyer," she said. "We won't go into your tragedy. We will get our happy ending."

Drosselmeyer let a toothy grin appear in the shadow. "I won't be so sure about that," he said, narrowing his eyes in glee. Drosselmeyer disappeared from the room.

Ahiru looked around with new determination. She had to find a way to stop the ending that Drosselmeyer had planned no matter what!

~X~*~X~

The next day, the three had been sure to scour the city. Much to Fakir's annoyance, Sylvie insisted on helping. "Why should you?" he snarled back at the girl. He had refused to forgive her for what she did.

After the short while, Sylvie had gotten used to his hostility. Sylvie kept her head down, though. "I can track her down with this," she answered, holding out her own necklace. "Your friend's necklace is from the same mirror as my own. They can track each other."

"Just like Heart Shards," Mytho stated.

Fakir relented but went with her to make sure that she didn't do anything.

After a terrible time searching, Fakir went to see Autor on his own. He had found him in the library, reading a book intently. A girl that was probably only thirteen sat next to him, bored out of her mind. The two looked up when Fakir walked over to their table.

Autor glanced up at the boy with an exasperated look on his face. "What do you want, Fakir?" he said in a low voice. "I'm busy. _This _girl won't leave me alone."

The girl next to him gave him a critical eye. "I have a name you know," she answered, annoyed. "It's _Corina_."

"Yeah, and I only gave you that name," Autor muttered before turning his gaze back to the boy. "What do you want?"

"Ahiru has gone missing," Fakir said hurriedly.

Autor sighed, pushing up his glasses. "You should be able to find her by the lake or pond," he explained. "She's a _duck _after all."

"Not anymore," Fakir exclaimed, slamming his fist into the table. "Ahiru's human again. Drosselmeyer is righting a story and he has kidnapped her! I need your help in finding her!"

Autor's eyes glinted and his anger vanished quickly. "Really?" he asked excitedly.

"Drosselmeyer?" asked Corina. "Who's that? Your father?" She looked between the two with a confused look on her face.

The two ignored her. "Yes. Autor, this isn't good. Remember you almost died in his story? We all almost died!"

Autor leaned back in his seat and relaxed. "Just write," the music student answered easily. "You should be able to find it that way, all mighty writer. Now go away while I try to figure out my own mystery."

Corina frowned. "I _doubt_ we'll be able to find it in a book, van Kaufmann," she said, exasperatedly.

"You don't know this town," Fakir answered before walking away. The girl glanced after him before turning back to the musician with a quizzical look on her face.

With that, the small group left defeated. A boy with wildly colored red hair wearing a red coat that fell just above his knees with a white belt and black pants and boots. "Prince Lamour of the Kingdom of the United has announced that he shall be married in three days time at the castle," announced the boy in a monotone –as if he was just a puppet on strings.

The group stopped dead. A marriage? To a prince? "It has to be Ahiru," said Rue, looking up at the boy. She frowned with Mytho. There was no way that this boy announcing this would be coincidence.

Fakir didn't think about that. His mind just went into action and relief and fear flew over him. Ahiru might have been nearby… but she was getting married. Was it her wish to? His heart began to ache slightly but he shoved it out of his mind. Jumping up towards the stand and the boy. "What is the bride's name?" he demanded, roughly grabbing him by the collar.

"The bride's name is Ahiru," the boy said simply, not even flinching from the teen's outburst. "You can't be thinking of raiding the castle to save her, can you?"

Fakir froze, mind processing what he had just heard. "DAMN YOU, DROSSELMEYER!" he roared, shoving the boy away and running back towards Rue, Mytho, and Sylvie. The writer didn't care about the looks he had gotten from the crowd or the shouts that followed him. He ran past Rue, Mytho, and Sylvie and they followed him right away.

"What's wrong?" asked Sylvie.

"Drosselmeyer," Fakir growled. "He wants us to know where she is. I have to go and get her."

"Alone?" Rue challenged. "You'll only be playing into his trap. You can't go alone."

"I have to do this on my own," he growled back at the Raven Princess. "This is my problem."

Mytho grabbed his arm roughly, making Fakir stop in his tracks and glance back at the silver haired prince. "You can't go alone. If you do, you will be overpowered by Drosselmeyer's writing. _We'll _go so you can write against him. Ahiru will be fine," Mytho said sternly, staring him in the eye. "Besides, didn't you give up the sword?"

Fakir met his gaze. "That was back when I couldn't do anything but know I'm fighting for something that means something more to me than anything," he answered and froze in astonishment at what he had said. The shock wore off quickly. "This is my problem," he repeated.

"If this is Drosselmeyer's ending, we _all _play a part in it," Sylvie stated, walking up to the two.

"She's right," Rue added. "Back when we went to defeat the Raven, we all played a part. Ahiru and you kept fighting, she giving us hope and you making sure that we wouldn't loose. If you want to be stupid and rush in, then we're coming with."

Sylvie nodded, glancing down at her pendant. _I need to make up for what I've done, _she added to herself.

_"Oh, now, I don't think you really mean that, my dear Sylvie,"_ said the voice within her head. The girl froze rigidly. _"I want to be whole again and _free! _I just need the final pieces." _The voice faded from her mind and gave them a look.

"I'm coming as well," she said. "I have to stop something and I think it's within that castle. I maybe able to lead you there. There's only one castle a half day's journey from here. That was where my Master… the _demon_ found me. That exact castle. Where I foolishly let him out."

The three seemed to understand. Fakir relented grudgingly. It had been decided: they were to head towards the castle from here. They headed towards Charon's to get weapons for the boys and traveling cloaks. Fakir went to fish his own sword from his closet in his room. From the blacksmith's shop, they could all hear a startled cry and a crash followed by a series of swearing. Rue tried her best to not look guilty but Mytho managed to notice it. "What is it?" he asked but Rue told him that it wasn't anything to worry about.

It was a good hour before they were ready and by now. Borrowing horses from a nearby stable to cut their travel time in half, they ran through the streets. Once they made it towards the west gate, Sylvie lead them towards the west for several hours. It was dusk when they were within a mile of the castle gardens. Sylvie lead them around the castle after a good hour until they came to a brook. She dismounted her horse and tied the reins to a nearby tree. Fakir, Rue, and Mytho did the same with their own.

"From here, we walk," she said. "There's a back door that leads to the kitchen. We'll be able to slip past them in an hour or two."

Fakir was all too eager to just head in now but he reasoned that would have been foolish. They had to bide their time until the cooks were done.

"How do you know about all that?" asked Rue.

"My Mas– I mean the demon had me track a Shard out here. I had to spy on the entire castle and study their routine, even if I didn't like it," Sylvie answered before muttering to herself, "I have to stop calling him that. That _thing _was only playing off my fears."

It was a good hour before they were able to slip into the back door and over the low wall. They used the cover of the night to slip past kitchen servants that were on their way to their own dinners in their quarters. They stole into the kitchen and into the door connected to the hallway. Just when they thought that it was empty, they glanced down the hall and saw that the dinning room was beginning to empty. Nobles and other aristocrats were emptying into the hall and were walking away from them.

Ahiru was the last one to file out. She was dressed in a royal purple silk dress that she looked so odd in. Fakir wanted to run out towards her and grasp her hand to pull her out but stopped when a golden haired teen came out behind her. He rested a hand on her shoulder and Fakir couldn't help but feel annoyed.

"Oh, she has to notice us," muttered Sylvie, noticing that her necklace was glowing brightly. "Come on, see it!"

~X~*~X~

The dinner had been amazing for Ahiru but she felt hopeless. She couldn't help Lamour if she couldn't turn into Princess Tutu and he refused to listen to her. She gave out a long sigh as she filed out of the dinning room. "Wasn't that an exquisite feast?" asked Lamour, walking up to her and putting a hand on her shoulder.

The redhead glanced up at him and answered, "Yeah, it was pretty good."

Lamour didn't seem to notice that she was upset. He was just too caught up in the marriage. It had gotten to his head and blinded him.

Ahiru glanced down at her necklace as soon as she noticed that it had began glowing. She stopped and gave it a quizzical look. It couldn't have been Lamour. The prince stopped and looked at her. "What's wrong?" he asked politely.

"I-I just need some air," Ahiru lied. Lamour nodded and left her alone.

Ahiru turned her back towards him quickly and glanced down at her amulet. _Why is it acting so…?_

"Ahiru!" hissed a voice around the corner. The redhead gasped as she glanced at where the voice was coming from.

"Rue! Fakir! Mytho!" she exclaimed, trying to hold back a quack. "Wh-what are you doing here? And what's Sylvie doing here?"

"I don't agree with my Master anymore," answered Sylvie. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused. I was being stupid–." She stopped suddenly when she saw that the girl didn't look upset at all.

"Thank goodness," she said simply with a smile. Sylvie blinked, speechlessly. "I'm glad you are with us."

Ahiru turned her attention towards Fakir. "How did you manage to get in? I'm so glad your here! I want to know if you can help me. The prince– Lamour– he has a Mirror Shard inside of him and I can't get it out. I can't become Princess Tutu."

Fakir just shook his head. "Moron, we can't stay here," he said. "We have to get out of here. Drosselmeyer is hoping to start his ending."

"But–!" argued Ahiru. "We can't just leave him! He needs help! Lamour's hurting because of the Shard of Love!"

"Ahiru, don't argue with me!"

"I won't go!"

"Ahiru-!"

"What the hell is going on?" cried someone from down the corridor. They all spun around to see a middle aged servant point an angry finger at them. "Intruders! GUARDS!! GUARDS!" the servant shrieked.

"Let's get out of here, _now!_" shouted Mytho. Fakir grabbed Ahiru by the wrist before she could argue and the five flew back into the kitchen. They all kept running until they made it out of the castle and into the grounds but the guards had already blocked their only escape route through the back.

"Now where do we go?" shouted Rue towards Sylvie. Sylvie ran through possible ways but the only way she could think of was through a series of tunnels under the castle and the only way towards there was through the basement… She shivered at the thought.

One of the guards lunged at them but Mytho had already drawn his sword and blocked the attack gracefully. Fakir directed Ahiru to get behind him and he pulled out his sword protectively. Sylvie turned into Silence in a flash of crimson and pulled out her own sword. Rue transformed into Kraehe, much to the redhead's surprise.

"We have to clear a path back towards the castle," shouted Silence. Then she explained about the underground system after Fakir had called her crazy.

"Fakir, I have to get that Shard!" cried Ahiru, grabbing his shoulder. "I _have _to stay and find a way to get it from him."

"Moron! He's going to marry you and you have no way to get it from him! There's nothing you can do about it right now!" he said, shaking it off. _And I can't loose you like I almost did,_ he added.

Ahiru was still stubborn. "Can't you guys fight later?" shouted Kraehe as she jumped out of the way of a sword directed towards her. She spun around in the air, sending black razor feathers directed towards the guards' hands and legs. Mytho was sending guards away and the red knight had thrown herself into the fray. The four warriors made a clear path towards the castle and darted for it again. Silence went in last and blocked the door with crates of food before joining them as they ran out of the kitchen.

They all raced down the hall with Silence in the lead by a yard. They raced through corridors, using anything along the walls to their advantage.

~X~*~X~

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

Lamour turned to face the guard that was approaching him as he readied for bed. "Yes?" he asked, noticing the urgency on the man's face.

"It's the girl! Intruders have infiltrated the castle and are trying to get out of the castle! By the looks of it, they're heading towards the underground tunnels," the soldier informed him quickly.

The prince clenched his teeth and hurriedly put on a tunic and pants before grabbing his sword from its resting place on the armoire. "Have guards block their path at all hallways near the entrance! We need to stop them!" he ordered, running towards the entrance.

~X~*~X~

The knights, prince, prima donna, and the redhead had kept running but found that the closer that they got to their destination, the more guards they ran into. "Just around this corner!" Silence called to them. They were all panting but determined to get out. Even Ahiru had stopped fighting, giddy that she was going to escape. She gripped Fakir's hand tightly. He glanced back at her to make sure she was okay.

They tore off around the corner but came to a sudden stop. A mass amount of guards had made a wall between them and their destination. Behind them, more guards had blocked their escape route and they were trapped on all sides. Silence, Kraehe, Mytho, and Fakir were about to go into battle but a voice stopped them.

"Why do you wish to cause me more pain?" asked a stern voice. They all looked behind them to see a fifteen year-old with blond hair and blue eyes approach them with a sword in hand and an angered look on his face. "Why does fate insist on making me suffer so? Let her go!" Lamour jabbed his sword in Fakir's direction.

"I refuse to," Fakir stated simply, clenching his sword and glaring daggers at Lamour.

"Get Miss Ahiru back," he commanded his guards. "Kill the others if you have to." The guards and the four intruders were about to but Ahiru screamed for them to stop.

"WAIT!" she cried, trying to force her way towards Lamour. Tears were in her eyes when she finally made her way past the protective circle of her friends. "Please, don't kill them," she pleaded. "Just take me and leave them alone, please."

"Ahiru!" everyone shouted.

"Why should I?" he asked. "They wished to take you away. I can't let that happen."

"They…" Ahiru tried to find a way to put the reason into words but it fell short. "They just wanted me back," was all she said. "I disappeared so suddenly…"

Lamour noticed that she had her face down. His look softened a little before it retained it's serious look. The prince suddenly grabbed Ahiru by the wrist and began dragging her away as he shouted orders over his shoulder. "Guards, bring them to the throne room for execution! They wish to harm my happiness and keep the curse on me!"

The guards leapt. As much of a fight they put up, the four intruders were unable to fight off the guards and were forced to go in cuffs.

~X~*~X~

In the throne room, the sentence was given. "Death!" declared the prince. Fear swept through them all. Sylvie let out a cry while Rue shivered. Fakir didn't seem bothered while Mytho kept an even look on his face. Ahiru was trying her best to find a way to think of a way to get her friends out this alive. She jumped to her feet and pulled on Lamour's sleeve, begging him to change his mind.

"Is there anything I can do to change your mind?" she sniffed through tears. "Please, just let them go! Please… They're my dear friends."

Lamour wasn't even looking at her. He would have folded but there was something wrong with him. A glimmer of purple in his eyes indicated that something was wrong.

~X~*~X~

Drosselmeyer grinned at what was going on. This was what he wanted. This, just this. This would be his ending. It would be better than he ever wanted. The emotion was high and it was sweet to him like honey. His eyes flashed excitedly, but he didn't seem to couldn't on something like what was going to happen next to happen.

**Act 9: End.**

**Whoops, cliff hanger. Well, hope you enjoyed it. :) Only a few more chapters left, only two or three maybe?**


	11. Act 10: Last Wish: The Final Shards!

**A/N: Apologies down below. For now, Maybe it's not my Weekend, Mo12341234, forgotten name, BlueForestAngelCat, the anonymous reviewer, cirquegirl81, and forgotten pin name, thank you for reviewing.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Princess Tutu.**

**Princess Tutu**

**Hour of the Swan**

Chapter 10: Last Wish: The Final Shards!

Drosselmeyer watched, a sadistic smile spreading across his face as he watched the horror spread to the young ballerina and her friends as the order was given. He hung onto every moment; his sadism grew with every look of fear and every tear shed.

"Death!"

~X~*~X~

Sylvie bowed her head, shivering and crying as the fear plagued her. Rue shivered, eyes fixed on the pair as Ahiru begged for Lamour to take it back. Mytho reached for his lover's hand in hopes that it could ease both of their fear. However, it didn't help any. Fakir just had his eyes glued onto the young pink haired girl. The tears streamed down her face and his heart ached. Fakir wanted to comfort her. How could a writer enjoy making people suffer? Drosselmeyer's insanity was beyond being incomprehensible. The old ghost of a man was far beyond insane.

"Please!" the young girl futilely begged. "Please, Lamour! They're my friends! Euridice wouldn't want this!"

Lamour turned his eyes towards her, a surprised look on his face. The prince stared at her blue eyes. _"Euridice wouldn't want this!"_

"Quit being selfish!" a sudden shriek broke the silence. They all looked to see Fakir standing, his face contorted into a glare. Guards came from behind him and forced him down, yelling at him for addressing the prince like so. Fakir struggled under their force. He lifted his head. "Are you trying to replace this girl with another?"

Lamour glared at the dark haired teen. "You know nothing!" he shouted. "Guards!" He took a step forwards.

Ahiru pulled at his arm, making Lamour stop. "Please, listen to Fakir, your highness!" she begged.

"Why should I?"

"I can't replace that hole in your heart," Ahiru stated, her head dropping. "I can't fix your heart. Your loneliness isn't a curse. I can't help you fix it, as much as I want." She looked up at him. "The only person who can ease it is someone who comes to love you off their own accord."

"That's right," Rue said, standing with Mytho next to her. "I tried making someone love me, going so far as to take his heart. It was selfish of me and now, I understand that. Forced love only left me even more heartbroken because it wasn't true. I knew it. You have to earn it through time!"

Lamour's eyes jumped between the dark haired girl, his crying fiancée, and the struggling teen. He backed up. "Shut up," he groaned, as if haunted by something. He held his hands to his head.

Ahiru's pendant began to shine again. Sylvie looked up, staring at the star-shaped rock around her neck as it glowed with the same light. "He's…he's the one with the shard?" Sylvie asked. Fakir, Rue, and Mytho stared at her in surprise.

Ahiru took a step closer to Lamour. "You're under the control of a dangerous magic. Let me help you," she said.

Lamour glared at her. "All I'm left to be is lonely!" he shrieked. "Guards, kill them all!"

There was a flash of red as Sylvie turned into Silence and Rue into Kraehe. Silence ran to help Fakir and Kraehe and Mytho dodged sword swipes. Kraehe used a feather-knife block a blow from a sword. She turned him around and knocked him into a guard that was approaching her from behind. The two fell into each other and Mytho snatched both their swords.

Silence taunted them away from Fakir, allowing him to get up and fight a sword out of a guard's hands.

Several guards circled around Ahiru. The girl backed away only to trip on the train of her dress, falling backwards. She scrambled to her feet as the guards reached for her. Fakir quickly came to her side, pulling her behind him and parrying a blow with his stolen sword.

"Everyone! We need to get out of here!" shouted Fakir, pushing the guard roughly away.

"We can't leave him here!" Ahiru insisted. "He needs my help! He has a shard and I have to-!"

"No, I won't let you! We need to get out of here now!" Fakir answered, his voice hard as he pulled her to back a step to avoid the swipe of a sword.

"Fakir," she argued, "I can't! If I don't, Drosselmeyer wins!"

"How do you know if you get it, we lose?" he demanded, looking at her. Ahiru didn't know how to answer that. What would happen? Her gaze shifted behind the boy as he stared at her intently.

"Fakir, behind you!"

The teen looked behind him, just in time to raise his sword and block the opponent's blade from above him. Now was Ahiru's chance. She raced past him, ignoring his call for her to go back.

She allowed a burst of light to engulf her, coming out a Princess Tutu. Several guards had begun filing into the throne room. Tutu easily leaped through them as they just stared, entranced as if they saw not a girl but a graceful swan. In truth, it was exactly what they saw.

~X~*~X~

Drosselmeyer sat back into his rocking chair, his big grin fading fast. Things weren't going to his plan. Writing the characters were becoming harder and harder. Control was slipping out of his hands with every passing moment. The guards were supposed to kill them but their will to live was strong. The crazed writer narrowed his eyes in puzzlement but then the smile crept back onto his face.

"I am loosing my touch," he chortled.

"That you are," agreed a dark voice. "Either way, things could work out."

Drosselmeyer stroked his chin. This was true. His goal wasn't for the demon to escape but to only create a sorrowful story, making up for _The Prince and the Raven_. "It would be boring if they lost here," Drosselmeyer said, thoughtfully.

The dark voice took on a curious tone. "So then, how are you going to finish this story, then?"

Drosselmeyer looked over at the source of the voice. "Simple," he answered. "Draw them here. You have never made a true appearance and so, the best place for it all to end would be in a final battle. Then the true tragedy will begin."

~X~*~X~

Princess Tutu landed in front of Lamour. "Your highness," she said politely, gaining his attention. The blond looked at her from the ground, eyes half closed in agony.

"My heart," he moaned weakly.

Tutu offered him a hand. "Will you dance with me?"

"Why?" he asked slowly. "It won't…it won't…" Suddenly, black fire exploded from him. Tutu twirled back, startled. The room suddenly was cast into twilight; a soft light came from above. From the floor, roots began cracking through the stone and capturing anyone who didn't move in their grasp like greedy fingers.

Silence, Kraehe, and Mytho did their best to dodge. Kraehe, holding onto Mytho, jumped into the air in hopes to stay out of the reach of the decaying roots. Silence and Fakir jumped from root to root, using her rapier to cut through any roots that made a grab for them.

The roots, however, were persistent. They managed to entangle themselves around Kraehe's feet and pull the two to the ground. Fakir and Silence ran to help them but the roots, too, grabbed him.

Silence, saw them coming and escape. The red knight was going to help them when she suddenly heard a scream. She stopped and looked in which direction it came from. Rising into the air, a snake of root had snatched Princess Tutu and had a steady hold of her.

Silence suddenly felt something wrap around her foot. Off of instinct, she used her sword and cut through it and turned back to Fakir, Mytho, and Kraehe. She hacked at the roots.

"Don't bother with us," Fakir commanded. "Get Ahiru! She's the only one who can stop him!"

"But-!" Silence protested.

"Just do it!" Fakir continued.

"I can get us out," Kraehe said. "I think I can get my hand free."

Silence then agreed and ran off, jumping through the roots.

~X~*~X~

Tutu stared down at the grievous prince. "Please, let me help!" she pleaded. "I can-!"

"No one can!" he screamed, interrupting her.

"Please-!"

"SHUT UP!" A jet of black flames and several roots raced towards her immobilized figure. There was…this couldn't be…this couldn't be the end…could it? Ahiru shut her eyes. This couldn't be the end. They couldn't let Drosselmeyer win! Rue, Sylvie, Mytho, and Fakir…she couldn't let them down…

A sudden cry made Tutu open her eyes and stare in horror as a red hung in front of her. There was a clang as something hit the ground. Tutu then too began to fall, her bonds having been cut. The prima dona landed gracefully, her eyes staring up at the red figure of Silence. Then, her eyes followed a drop of red liquid that fell before her.

Blood.

"Silence!" she screamed. Tutu scaled the root tower that had held her until she could see the girl. In a bright shimmer of red, the garments turned back into Sylvie's simple dress. Tutu's hands covered her mouth as she stared at the gruesome scene. The roots protruded from her stomach. Blood stained her dress.

"Sylvie!" she cried, once she found her voice.

The girl looked up weakly. "This…wasn't supposed to…but…it did…"

"Why?" she asked.

The question remained unanswered. Sylvie weakly reached for her necklace and pulled at the chain with enough force to make the clasp snap. "You…you're…the main character of this story…" she said weakly. "The main…character is the…one who should live…not me… Take the Shard of Kindness…"

"Sylvie…" Tutu began. "Please, don't die…"

"That isn't my call…just…finish the story…Live a better life than mine…save your friends…from whatever…cruel fate…" Her voice suddenly grew soft. Her head tilted forwards and her arms went limp. Sylvie didn't move from there. She just hung like a de-stringed marionette, dead.

The necklace in her hands began falling towards the ground. It began to glow red and started floating upwards to the still horrified girl. The shard flew into her hands. Tutu stared at it with blurry eyes.

In front of her, an orange silhouette appeared before her. "Please, accept her last wish," it asked, sweetly. "I've been with Sylvie for a long time and I can tell you were a good friend of hers. Please, accept her last wish and regain the mirror shard and defeat whatever ending awaits you."

Tutu closed her eyes as a sense of grief washed over her. "I don't know if I can."

"Can you lose another friend?"

The prima dona shook her head. No, she couldn't. She had to fight for everyone else too. _I'll fulfill your last wish, Sylvie,_ she promised. Princess Tutu allowed the shard go into her own necklace. It glowed brightly. "One left," she murmured. She recomposed herself, standing tall and looking away from her dead friend.

Princess Tutu turned her eyes towards where the Prince was, curled in the fetal position, surrounded by the roots and black flames.

Tutu leaped from her platform, spinning. Flowers appeared and swirled around her in a gentle hurricane, making the fire die out. She landed on the root circle and, balancing on one foot, bowed down to the blond teen. She weaved her hand into one that gripped his arms. She effortlessly pulled him to his feet as he reluctantly complied.

Tutu gave him a soft smile. "If you want to heal, you must be willing to let others help," she said. She twirled her hands above her head and then offered one to him. "Will you dance with me, your highness?" she asked.

Lamour blinked, his eyes hollow. "Are you going to help me?"

Tutu nodded her head and gestured her hand. The boy backed away. "Can you dance for me?" he asked. Tutu was confused. Then the roots around her came together, forming a cello and a bow. Tutu then understood.

"Play for me then," she complied. The ballerina backed away softly. The musician took up the instrument and began playing. The music began, weaving a story before them. The dancer allowed her to be guided by the music.

The music took on a ballad feeling and Tutu danced gracefully, dancing with an invisible partner, conveying an atmosphere of innocent love. Then the music slowed, as did Tutu, conveying a feeling of loss. She did a lot of twisting and bowing, raising her arms into the air in prayer. Then the music took up a bit of a faster pace, somewhere between a serenade and what would be an ode.

Tutu danced in circles, using her body language to convey her message in the wordless conversation of music and dance.

"How can I become free of this curse?" sang the cello in long pulls and pushes of the bow.

"There's something trapped in your heart," Tutu answered simply. "Just let it go."

"How?"

The roots began to fall away and receded into the ground. Tutu bowed and then came upwards, raising her hands into the air. "Allow your heart to move on. You can't hold Euridicie by simply forcing a girl into her space. Not all humans are the same."

"Would she want this?" The cello scaled upwards in a great slur of notes. "Do you believe she would want this?"

"I believe…" Tutu danced her way over to him, and circled her arms around him. "…she wants you to find happiness and not be drowning in sorrow of losing her forever."

The cello stopped suddenly. Tutu opened her eyes and stared at him, startled. She could see a river of tears flowing down his cheek. "That's right…" he said, opening his mouth. "Euridicie…"

From his chest, an orange shard emerged, glowing brightly. The last Mirror Shard: the Shard of Love. Tutu scooped it away from him and backed away as he collapsed, a faint smile on his face.

~X~*~X~

The roots disappeared as if they were never there. People tangled in the roots found themselves on the ground. Dazed and confused, the guards stood and communicated with each other. Several saw their prince had fainted and raced to check up on him. Others remembered the five prisoners and saw that none of them were there. Orders were called for them to find them.

~X~*~X~

It was outside that they found themselves. Tutu and Kraehe had returned to their pedestrian forms and all were staring at Sylvie's bloody corpse. Rue stared, allowing her tears to fall. She gripped Mytho's hand tightly. The white haired prince in turn rested his head on her shoulder. Ahiru didn't talk, and stood close to Fakir. She rested her head against his arm. The writer rested a hand on her head and gently brought her close.

"Was her death planned by Drosselmeyer?" Mytho asked aloud. "Or was it her free will?"

"Who knows," Fakir answered.

"We have all the shards now," Ahiru said glumly. "What do we do now?"

"Burry her, for starters," Rue said, through tears. "It's the least we can do."

The idea of interring her was easier said than done. They had no shovels and no coffin. "Maybe this is the end of the story," Ahiru suggested in a naïve hope.

"No, that insane monster will never be done," Fakir spat.

Mytho nodded.

"Oh, this is a beautiful tragedy!" exclaimed a voice from above. The six looked wildly around, unsure where it was coming from.

"Drosselmeyer," the four friends said with varying shades of contempt.

"Oh, this is wonderful," he said. "But our story is far from over. We're approaching our climax! I expect you to play at your best!"

"We're not your marionettes, Mr. Drosselmeyer!" Ahiru exclaimed.

"We'll stop your tragedy, right here and now!" Mytho shouted.

"We'll see about that. For now, I set the final stage and set it into motion." Suddenly, Ahiru's pendant began to glow a bright orange before separating into six different shards, three orange and three purple. Then, they raced upwards, disappearing into the heavens. Suddenly, the scene melded around them, disappearing into nothingness.

"I will give you time to prepare for the final act! When will it begin? Now that's the question. You shall wait and see."

"Damn it, Drosselmeyer! Enough of your games!" Fakir shouted. There, however was no answer. They then were left within the silence again. Left in anticipation for what shall come next in the unwinding story.

**Act 10: End.**

**My, my, my! It's been a year since I last updated this! I'm so sorry! D: My other stories got me distracted and then suddenly, all my other stories are unable to be updates for the last week. I saw this as a sign that someone or something wanted me to update and so, here I am! I expect only one more chapter.**

**Yeah, depressing chapter is depressing. My original plan wasn't for Sylvie to die here but I felt it was a good homage to Juliet from the anime **_**Romeo + Juliet. **_**:( Yes, the final climax is coming up. I plan on getting the next chapter finished by next week! I'm hoping it's going to be a good closing for this.**


	12. Act 11: The Mirror's Curse: Final Hopes

**A/N: Thanks for everyone that has followed this story. I'm sorry it went on to a hiatus for so long and then suddenly just started writing again. I thank James Birdsong and Emiri-Chu for reviewing and everyone who faved and put this on their alerts. I appreciate it deeply and I hope you enjoy the final chapter.**

**Princess Tutu: Hour of the Swan **

Final Act: "The Mirror's Curse" Final Hopes

It had been a week. Ahiru had turned back into a duck when her pendant had disappeared thanks to Drosselmeyer; however, her mind was far from that. It was focused on the death of a girl who she had one-sidedly fought against for the past weeks before becoming an ally and then sacrificing herself for Ahiru. The young duck had barely known Sylvie but it was still a sad thing. They had a small connection and it was enough to make her shed tears for the dead knight.

_"__…Just…finish the story…Live a better life than mine…save your friends…from whatever…cruel fate…"_ Ahiru had taken it upon herself to do just that; she promised to protect her friends so they wouldn't die like Sylvie. The young duck whipped away a tear that began falling from her eye with her wing. _I'll do it, Sylvie, _she thought, _I'll fight for everyone again, no matter what form I'm in. As a duck, a girl, or Princess Tutu, I'll keep going so we can advert another looming tragic end._

The sun shown through the window, falling on the duck's side of the bed and then over onto the face of the sleeping teen. Ahiru turned to look at him, eyes soft. If she could, her beak would have turned up into a soft smile. _I'll fight for us all, Fakir. Please, write for me again._

A new shadow fell over her and Ahiru gave out a surprised quack. She looked back but never got a chance to see the owner's shadow, as her vision was blocked by water falling onto her body.

Apparently, it had also been dumped onto Fakir as well as his voice screeched out, "Uzura! What'd I tell you about doing that?"

Ahiru shook off her feathers and gave a sighing quake. Uzura had been doing that all week, only to get the same results. Ahiru looked at the puppet child, who studied her curiously. "Why isn't Ahiru changing into a girl, zura?" Uzura asked, blinking.

Fakir sighed. "It was ever since Drosselmeyer took the power from Ahiru's necklace she's been unable to turn into a girl," he explained. Fakir bent down and took her with him while he went to get a towel. Charon met both of them. He had been informed about what had happened to their "friend" (for Fakir, this word being used to describe Sylvie was awkward)—of course, he wasn't fully informed about _exactly_ she died and what had happened afterwards. The story they went with was that she helped them find Ahiru and took the blade in Ahiru's stead after she refused to be married.

"Is Ahiru going to be at the funeral today?" he asked. "I haven't seen her since she disappeared and it's odd that she hasn't come over to visit. And you've brought home a duck as well."

"She's going to be busy taking supplementary classes to make up for what she had missed," Fakir answered. "I'm sure she'll visit her grave when she's good and ready."

Charon raised an eyebrow before looking down at the duck. "What's the duck's name?"

Fakir didn't answer, turning away and heading to change after retrieving his towel. Fakir was sure to hand Ahiru to Uzura before closing the door behind him.

~X~*~X~

The casket was dropped into the ground. The small crowd surrounding the new grave caused a bout of curiosity to those who passed by. Ahiru watched from afar as prayers were said and the flowers were dropped in before the hole where Sylvie was buried was covered. The duck, looked down and put the inside of her wings together and gave her own little prayer, of hope and luck before folding her wings at the sides of her body.

Ahiru watched the four humans until Charon left them. With him gone, she waddled over and plopped herself between Fakir and Rue's feet and stared at the grave.

Mytho suddenly broke the silence. "How much longer do you think?" he wondered aloud. Of course, he was talking about how much longer they had to wait for the climax.

"Soon enough, most likely," muttered Fakir.

"I hope we can just finish it already," Rue murmured bitterly. "I just want to get this over with and defeat Drosselmeyer already."

Ahiru quacked softly in agreement.

A few more minutes of silence past before they left. They continued, just about ready to separate when a voice stopped them. "It's time," cackled a manic voice. The four stopped and turn their eyes towards the heavens where the sky suddenly showed the face of Drosselmeyer. They didn't answer, readying for what the insane author had in store for them.

From the sky, a small drop of light fell towards them and hovered in front of Ahiru. A sudden urge for her to touch it filled her but she refrained, unsure what it would do. For all she knew, it could be _bad _news.

She glared up at the sky and quaked. _What is this supposed to do?_

Drosselmeyer only grinned before disappearing.

Suddenly, the orb began zooming off. The four watched it race down the street like a bat out of hell. Ahiru started chasing after it, prompted by a feeling in her gut. Whatever it was, it wanted her to follow.

"Ahiru!" shouted Fakir and Mytho. The three friends were just about to chase after her when a sudden swarm of marionettes blocked their way. They all held swords and were dressed in dark colors.

"Oh, not yet," Drosselmeyer's said, patronizingly as an adult would to a naughty child. "I won't have the four of you mess up this beautiful tragedy."

Fakir growled. Rue transformed into Kreahe. Mytho readied himself. It was apparent that they'd have to take care of these puppets in order to advance and catch up to the duck.

~X~*~X~

Ahiru followed the ball of light only a few yards behind it. Through the strangely empty streets, she continued. She turned several corners and then out of the town's walls and into a grassy land outside.

As the chase continued, a thick fog began rolling in and Ahiru was having trouble keeping up as it kept disappearing but then reappearing. Several times, she stopped and looked wildly around for the ball of light to pierce the fog. Seconds later, she'd find it and the chase would continue.

_Where is it leading me?_ she thought. _What's Drosselmeyer's plan?_ Suddenly, the ground beneath Ahiru disappeared and she fell. It was a short fall and was cushioned when she landed in water. The duck flapped her wings in order to somehow slow her descent and then swam to the surface, taking a gulp of air as soon as she reached broke the water's surface.

She looked wildly around for the orb of light. Then, she spotted it and began paddling her way after it. The light went along slowly, keeping a short distance between it and the duck. For what seemed like ten minutes, Ahiru felt her feet touch firm land.

She waddled her way up onto the shore and took a look around. The fog began dying away, revealing the dark silhouette of a castle. It stood, strikingly ominous against the fog. Ahiru shivered and glanced up to see the ball of light dance above her head. It was like it was beckoning her to follow; follow it into the castle.

Ahiru gulped before gathering her wits. This was where it would all end. _I'm going to get us a happy ending, just like I promised Fakir and Sylvie. _She quacked and raced after the light as it descended into the castle. The light disappeared through a closed entrance. Ahiru stopped and stared at the door curiously. How was she going to get in?

Suddenly, she heard the creaking of old hinges. She quacked and backed away as the door blasted open, thudding against the stone wall with a thunderous crack. Ahiru just sat there, too startled to move. Something in her cried to race back but she swallowed her fear. She couldn't run, not now. Sure she wasn't Princess Tutu or the girl but they were apart of who she was.

_I can't run. I have to have Princess Tutu's courage, even if I can't transform into her._ She took a breath and quickly exhaled through her nostrils. With that, she entered the door and into the pitch black.

~X~*~X~

The puppets' movements were jerky and slow, making it easy to dodge. It was apparent that they weren't there to kill them but only to slow the three down. Fakir and Mytho took swords from the fallen puppets that Kreahe had destroyed. It was in no time that the puppets were destroyed, allowing them to then pursue their friend. Only problem was that they didn't know where she and the ball of light had disappeared to.

Mytho then suddenly got an idea. "Fakir, you can write a path into existence!" he said.

Fakir turned his attention towards the white haired boy. He nodded. "Right," he answered, turning towards a house in hopes of gathering a quill, ink, and paper. However, suddenly, two figures raced down the street towards them.

One was Autor and the other was a girl that Fakir had seen Autor with at the library a week ago. "Autor, what are you doing here?" asked Fakir as the two caught up with them.

"Long story," the musician answered, panting for breath. The girl next to him was panting as well.

"Have you seen anything strange?" she asked.

"A lot of stuff," she answered quickly. She took a glance at Autor and saw that the items in his hands were exactly what they needed. "Autor, do you think we can borrow those?"

The girl raised an eyebrow. "And what do you think you're going to do with it?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"What do you need it for?" asked Autor. "Is your story coming to an end?"

"Yeah," Fakir answered.

Autor let out a sigh and handed it to the dark haired teen. The girl frowned and looked over at Autor, unsure of why it was a good idea to give the items to him. "You'll see, Corina," Autor said simply.

Fakir opened the inkbottle and dabbed the quill into it and began writing, mumbling to himself the words that would conjure them a path. He hesitated, none of it sounded right. He groaned before crossing it out.

"What is it, Fakir?" asked Mytho.

The musician looked over the boy's shoulder and sighed. "You're aiming for perfection," he said, rolling his eyes. "You aren't even believing in what you're writing, are you?"

Fakir glared at him. "Be quiet," he muttered.

"Autor's probably right though," Rue suggested. "We don't have time for perfection and you can clean it up later. Ahiru needs us!"

Fakir exhaled loudly and looked down at his paper. Maybe Autor was right. He was aiming for perfection. He took a deep breath and then begn writing, the quill flying across the page. After several seconds, a sudden path of light hanging in the air appeared. The five looked up, amazed.

"Let's go!" exclaimed Mytho. The three friends left the musician and gaping girl behind.

~X~*~X~

Ahiru walked down the hallways, keeping an eye on the orb of light. She didn't dare cast her eyes on the walls that were covered in cobwebs and creepy paintings.

"All on your lonesome self?"

Ahiru stopped and looked back. No one was there. The duck turned back and continued on her way.

"You think you'll defeat this ending, what a joke."

Ahiru looked around but continued on her way. She shivered as she saw the cobwebs. Then she heard a loud crash behind her. She quacked and ran, crashing into something hard. She got up and went behind it.

"Who's there?" she quacked.

"And you're supposed to be Princess Tutu yet you runaway. Where's that swan's grace you're supposed to have?"

Ahiru sighed. _I have to continue, _she thought, walking forwards.

"What can a duck do?"

_Give hope to keep fighting._

"Is that all a duck can do? If that's how it is, she won't be able to last, will she?"

"She's all on her own."

"Hope is nothing on it's own, isn't it?" 

_No…No it isn't._

"Yes, it is. Hope can do nothing on its own. You're just a burden. You're the one who set this story in motion."

_I couldn't leave Fakir to die…_Ahiru stopped. The light suddenly disappeared. The duck looked down.

"She accepted the necklace after all and it killed that poor Sylvie girl."

Ahiru looked up, her eyes watering. _That's right…_she thought. Sylvie died because of the story…maybe if she hadn't accepted the pendant, maybe none of this would have happened…

_"Ahiru, don't listen,"_ a voice in her head said.

_Fakir?_ she wondered. Something warm inside her stirred

_"Ahiru, none of this is your fault. It's all Drosselmeyer's. We're all going to win! You just hang on."_ It had to be him! He must've been writing for her!

Courage welled in her. _Right,_ she thought. _I'm not alone. I'm so silly to listen to these voices. Hang on, everyone…and thank you._

Ahiru quacked and raced off down the hall. The voices kept taunting her but the taunts fell on deaf ears. She refused to listen, ignoring the dissonance of the screaming taunts, wanting to be heard. Eventually, the light came into view at the end of the hall. It hovered, as if waiting for her. When the duck reached it, the light disappeared through a door. The ancient oak door was cracked open and Ahiru pushed it open.

She stepped into a simple stone room. There were several torches that light the room. The only furniture in the room was a large mirror with black and gold edgings. She took several steps into the room and stopped.

"Well, if it isn't the little duck Ahiru," greeted a chorus of voices.

The doors closed with a loud bang behind her. Ahiru gave a startled quack but quickly recomposed herself. "You were the one who was writing the story?" she asked, quacking. "Why?"

The voices understood her. "I wanted my soul to be brought back together after that wretch destroyed the mirror," said the voices. "I am the demon of the mirror and I want out."

"The mirror was brought back together," she answered, "you have exactly what you want."

"Yes," the demon replied. A face suddenly appeared in the mirror. It had serpentine features with ugly pale green skin and eyes without irises. Its lips stretched into a sinister smirk. Ahiru held back a gulp.

The face disappeared with a chuckle, replacing it with two figures that the duck recognized as Rue and Mytho, dressed in beautiful robs of gold linen. They were looking at each other fondly, silent love being communicated between their happy faces.

"The deceitful raven," the demon in the mirror spat. "That's your Prince, isn't it? You loved him with a pure heart but she sought to break him, keep him from becoming his true self. She did nothing and got the happy ending…"

Ahiru took a deep breath. It was true; Rue did get the happy ending.

"And you worked so hard but you stayed as a duck in the end," the demon continued. "What kind of justice is that?"

"I did it because I simply wanted them to be happy," Ahiru quacked. That had always been her intention from the beginning. She had wanted to see him smile and be happy. "That's all I wanted."

"Is that really true?" the demon asked, "at the expense of yourself and your own happiness?"

The duck looked at the mirror and her gaze fell to the floor. "Yes," she said, "I was willing to allow Mytho to become who he was on my borrowed power."

The image faded. The demon let out a chuckle. "You are a strong spirit but I can read you like a book," it said, "and I know you don't want to turn back into a duck at the end. You want to talk and live as a girl. I can give you that."

Ahiru quacked and looked up. A hope deep inside her stirred but then it calmed. _No, _she thought, _I won't give him what he wants._ "I don't have to be a girl!" she screamed. "As long as my friends stay alive, I'll be content! Even if I die."

Suddenly, the doors clanged open. Ahiru looked back and watched Fakir, Mytho, and Rue race into the room, ready for a fight. "Ahiru! Don't run off like that, moron!" Fakir shouted.

~X~*~X~

Drosselmeyer sat in his rocking chair, dissatisfied with how the story was proceeding. He was hoping to use the little duck's previous emotions to his advantage but his pen refused to write it. Her deep love for the prince seemed different now. Then now, the three had caught up to her and where the mirror was.

"Now, now, this won't do," he tut-tutted. "It's time to take a different approach."

~X~*~X~

Ahiru raced towards the three, quacking and pointing to the mirror, trying to convey her message to destroy the mirror. However, she wasn't able to do it for long.

Suddenly, a black mist formed out of the mirror and wrapped itself around Ahiru's body like the dark hand of the devil, claiming a soul. "I guess I'll do it the easy way, then," the demonic chorus sang, pulling in the squirming and quacking duck.

Fakir was quick to go after her, his hands flying after her and wrapping at thin air just as the mist and the young duck disappeared into the rippling surface of the glass. The teen swore as he got up and banged on the glass, demanding that the demon return her.

The chorus of voices chortled before it slurred into a manic laughter. Voices melded together into a single voice, sinister and dangerous. "And now, I'm free!"

A blast of wind erupted from the mirror, sending Fakir back several feet and landing on his butt. Mytho and Rue ran to him to help him off the floor. The watched as two hands appeared out of the mirror, gripping it's frame. A serpentine head and the rest of its humanoid body followed the gnarled and twisted pale green hands. Despite being gruesome, it was dressed in fine clothes like those of nobles.

It turned its pale blue eyes down at the three humans.

"Where's Ahiru?" demanded Fakir, glaring up at the creature.

"You're friend is where she should be," the demon of the mirror stated, a sinister smile spreading across his face. "You can soon join her though."

Fakir was quick to stand. "Over my dead body!" he declared in a battle cry, charging at the demon with his sword ready. He swung it horizontally but the demon easily caught the blade and in one swift movement, sent the blade out of the teen's hands and skittering across the floor. Fakir was then back with a blast of wind.

"Ah, so you're the reason why," the demon said, licking his fingers.

Then, Mytho and Rue went to cover for Fakir. Rue, as Kreahe, spun and unleashed a storm of sharp feathers at the demon. Like the dragons from tales of knights, the daggers harmlessly bounced off his skin.

The demon only smirked and threw his hand out, a wave of wind sent them flying backwards into the wall and they slumped to the ground. The demon curled his fingers into fists and whipped his tail around. "It's so good to have my body back," he smirked.

~X~*~X~

Ahiru felt her body sink downwards in empty space. She didn't know how long she had been falling…or maybe she was floating? There was no breeze to signify that she was falling and there was nothing solid under her feet to tell her that she was standing upright.

She even had a hard time remembering her own name, as she was far too preoccupied with the various negative emotions and memories rushing through her mind like tides being swept in by a storm. A fog of uncertainty clouded her mind and her sight, keeping her lost and wondering about in her unhappy memories. Any positive thoughts she could light were quickly extinguished by a blast of wind or rain from above, leaving her to remain lost.

_I put Mytho through that fear and suffering and confusing for him to regain his heart. I put the story into motion and Rue became Kreahe and I nearly got her killed when Lamour kidnapped me. Fakir nearly died, trying to save me. Sylvie died to protect me._

_Now, I'm stuck in this stupid mirror and the demon's out and I have no way out. The demon's going to kill everyone and there's nothing I can do about it…I should have just stayed as a duck…none of this would have happened then…_

~X~*~X~

Drosselmeyer watched the duck—now girl because the affect of the mirror's magic—hover, lamenting her and her friend's future. "My, my, little Ahiru," Drosselmeyer cooed, "What can you do?" Then the old man frowned; he was dissatisfied. "I'm missing the willingness to this," he sighed. "That's what makes a tragedy beautiful."

Then he fell silent as words echoed through the cogs and gears, rebounding and echoing the quiet whisper of defeat that Drosselmeyer was waiting for: "Maybe I should just accept this…this time, maybe I couldn't defeat the happy ending. I'll just disappear…"

Drosselmeyer's frown turned upwards and grew, stretching from one ear to the next as the words satiate his desires.

He then turned towards the next cog, showing the desperate ex-knight, prince, and crow princess. Their courage and unwillingness to give up was commendable and it only made the coming ending far more beautiful to him. They would kill themselves fighting the demon to desperately save their friend and Ahiru would disappear into the sorrows of the mirror. Drosselmeyer had planned to use Sylvie for the mirror's occupant but that hadn't turned out but either way, he was satisfied. The end was close and he could almost taste the glory it would have.

He then paused. Something wasn't right. The story and words began having a hard time transferring from the pen to paper. Drosselmeyer watched the cog with his descendent intently.

"What are you doing, dear Fakir?"

~X~*~X~

Fakir looked around wildly, unsure where the voice was coming from. It sounded familiar. "Sylvie?" he asked aloud.

The demon looked at the teen, his eyes narrowed, bemused. "Ah, my ex-lackey," he said, "sad thing that happened to her." He wiped his tail around. Fakir rolled out of the way to the best of his ability but the edge of the demon's tail clipped the back of his hand.

_"Yeah," _answered the disembodied voice of the girl.

Kreahe looked over at him. "What are you doing?" she called to the knight.

Fakir ignored the raven princess and listened to the voice. _"Ahiru's the only chance to reseal the demon in the mirror. She needs your help. Use me if you have to…after all, I'm your character."_

Fakir looked over at Mytho, who rose, leaning against his sword. "You think you can keep that damn demon busy?" he asked.

Mytho nodded but gave him a questioning glance for a split second before seemingly deciding to find out later. Fakir only needed to look over at Kreahe and she understood his tacit question. She got to her feet and twirled around and having raven's feathers fall down around the demon.

Fakir meanwhile went to look for the bundle of papers, quill, and inkbottle that he had gotten from Autor and Corina. He found it, close to the entrance and scrambled over it, ducking out of the way of misfired feathers and blasts of wind. Suddenly, from the mirror, a bird emerged and flew at Fakir and towards his heart. The ex-knight used the flat edge of his sword to bat it away and then slashing it in half as it came flying at him.

Fakir snatched up the items but wasn't able to escape a blast of wind that sent him into the hall from the force. He landed on his back. He forced himself up despite his back's protest. He reached for the closest sheet of paper and the quill and the bottle of ink. His hand fell on something wet. Realizing that it was ink, Fakir dabbed the quill in it quickly and began to scribble down words. _Come on, Ahiru,_ he thought.

~X~*~X~

Drosselmeyer gritted his teeth; no way would he be cheated on his ending! "Demon! Get my descendent!"

However, Drosselmeyer watched as Kreahe and Mytho blocked his path and slow him down by whatever means they could think of such as vines and the torch that was used to light the room. This was enough to make him draw back, hissing in rage.

Drosselmeyer then turned towards the other cog; his grasp on victory was slipping.

~X~*~X~

Ahiru closed her eyes and then opened them. Something in the distance began calling to her. She couldn't make out who it was and what they were saying at first but then it grew from an inaudible whisper floating on the wind to something louder. The call, beckoned to her. "Ahiru! Ahiru!" it called. At first, it was one voice then it was two. A girl and a boy's…two very familiar voices with names that remained out of reach…

A warm feeling filled her body and a light began glowing in her hands. She was careful to shield the little fragile light as she began taking off after the voices. As she came closer to the voice, the fog began to thin out, the little light in her hands began to grow larger, and the wind and rain died down. Ahiru, too, was able to think clearer. The names came to her as well as happy memories.

The fresh taste of gaining their happy endings after the defeat of the Monster Raven, being content when she was with Fakir on beautiful days, being able to see her friends smile; it all came flooding back.

"Ahiru! Ahiru!"

"Fakir!" she shouted in response. Tears of joy ran down her face and the fog lifted, leaving her in a dimly lite study. The girl stopped, quizzical on where she now was.

"Wasn't I in the mirror?" she thought out loud.

"You still are," came the voice of Sylvie. Ahiru quacked and clamped a hand over her mouth. Startled, she looked at what she thought would have been her feather. Ahiru ran her hand over her head, feeling the hair she had as a human.

"Wait, why am I human? And Sylvie, why are you here?" she asked, looking in the general direction of where the voice was coming from. Sitting in a chair was Sylvie, dressed in a simple deep red dress and her hair drawn back in a ribbon.

"I was here because I was connected to the Mirror Shard," she explained. Ahiru's confused expression prompted Sylvie to better explain it. The dead girl closed her eyes. "How can I explain this so that it's understandable?" she thought aloud. A minute passed before she opened her eyes. "I guess my death in the story was untimely," she said, "and because my role came to an abrupt end, my spirit wanted to continue fighting somehow. Fakir right now is using me so I can help you get out."

Ahiru's mouth dropped. "Wait, are they all right?" she asked, concerned.

"I don't know," she answered. "I can assume they are since Fakir is still writing." Sylvie suddenly rose and walked over to Ahiru, taking the small orb of light from her hands.

"Hope would guide you here, kindness can show you the way out, and love will take you there," Sylvie told her. The light began glowing red. "Now, we have to stop Drosselmeyer from continuing writing the story."

"But how?" Ahiru asked, frowning.

"The machine is in this room," Sylvie answered, she then turned and allowed the light to shine brightly on a piece of furniture that looked much like the machine that Fakir had dismantled months before.

"You've known it was here all this time?" Ahiru asked. "How's come you haven't destroyed it?"

Sylvie sighed. "I've only known about it since the mirror was put back together and I came across it here. And I don't have a physical form here, so I can't destroy it. That's all up to you."

_"That, my little knight, won't happen."_

"Drosselmeyer!" the two girls exclaimed.

The two both turned as two purple figures emerged from the shadows, one with the silhouette of a ballerina and the other with a long paintbrush-shaped staff. Ahiru gasped. "Wh-what's going on?"

"It's Pride and Hate," Sylvie muttered. She touched the small red light and extracted a rapier from it. "Ahiru, you take care of the machine and I'll take care of these two entities. Be careful to not get hit by them."

"But aren't they like you?"

"Not really. And don't give me that look! I'm not the madman who made this world and the laws that applied to it!"

"Enough chitchat!" the one with the paintbrush staff cried, pouncing at them. Sylvie passed through Ahiru and parried the staff with her sword. Ahiru scrambled off, only to get her path cut off by the ballerina shadow. It spun and unleashed a kick at her. Ahiru did her best to duck but took the hit, sending her to the ground. The girl then rolled out of the way and onto her feet.

The shadow then pounced, leaping at her. Ahiru launched herself forwards to dodge, landing on her belly a few feet from where she had been. The small ball of light followed her. Ahiru got to her feet and then ran the rest of the way to the machine that was writing words furiously.

Ahiru was at a loss of what to do with it. She then just reached out for the strings and began tugging at them. They snapped with little effort but the pen kept scribbling. Suddenly, something clamped around her neck and Ahiru was pulled backwards.

The girl flailed around, trying to get whatever had been wrapped around her neck off. The orb of light danced furiously around before it disappeared out of Ahiru's line of vision. The clamp on her neck then gave way. She pulled it off and looked back. The small orb of light had distracted her captor, the ballerina shadow figure.

_"Go!" _a voice yelled at her.

_Right!_ The girl got to her feet and went back to the machine. She grabbed a piece of wood that was in her reach and yanked at it. It gave and Ahiru fell backwards, startled. She got back onto her feet and began furiously grabbing and yanking away whatever she could—strings, paper, bits of wood—until there was nothing left.

~X~*~X~

Everyone on the outside of the mirror shared the same looks of surprise as the demon froze and howled in pain. Something was going on, all right. Wild blasts of wind erupted from the angry demon. The papers that Fakir had held tightly to were ripped out of his hands.

The great monster roared and glared at the mirror. "NO!" it screamed. He began heading towards the mirror, intent on destroying it. Kreahe and Mytho got to their feet to stop it, energy coursing through them, as they knew something had happened to make the tide turn in their favor.

Fakir listened as a monstrous scream of pain echoed into the hall. He got to his feet, forgetting about the papers he was trying to retrieve. To his astonishment, he watched as the demon was overpowered by Mytho and Kreahe. He felt a new burst of energy. He grabbed the closest torch that hadn't been extinguished from the demon's blasts of wind and ran to join his two friends in slaying the demon that was now, for some reason, pervious to their attacks.

The air was filled with the scent of blood and burnt flesh and the screams and battle cries of both sides as they received blows. Blood pooled on the floor and the demon's power began to fail it as the demon's blood left it. The Mirror Demon attempted to shield itself from the blade but the raining feathers dug into its hand and arm.

After a few more minutes of relentless fighting, the demon fell, exhausted from its fight. Both gasped. Mytho, Kreahe, and Fakir watched as life slowly left the creature. For a moment, they felt guilty. Only a hair's breath from death, the demon looked pitiful, almost like a dying doe.

Mytho approached it quietly. He raised his sword into the air and brought it down on the demon's skull, cutting through the flesh and piercing its head. The Mirror Demon drew its last breath and died.

~X~*~X~

Ahiru watched as the little light disappeared as well as the two shadow figures. Curious, she got to her feet. "Is it all over?" she asked Sylvie.

The girl nodded, lowering her sword. "It's dead," she stated, "the story is over."

Ahiru smiled. "We did manage to get a happy ending," she smiled, looking upwards and closing her eyes. Tears began streaming down her eyes. "It's all over."

"No, you're still stuck in here," Sylvie said, turning towards her.

Ahiru lowered her head and shook it slowly. "No, everyone's safe. It's all right as long as they're safe, even if I'm stuck in here."

Sylvie's face hardened angrily and she attempted to smack her but the dead girl's passed through the redhead. However, Ahiru shivered and looked at Sylvie. "Don't go saying that! You worked hard for a happy ending! You shouldn't settle for nothing less! Don't go fooling yourself that you'd be happy being trapped in here!" Sylvie yelled.

Ahiru shook her head. "No—!" she denied but then stopped. Sylvie was right. She wanted to see her friends, all of them. Tears welled in her eyes and she fell to her knees. _I don't want to stay here,_ she admitted to herself. "I want to see Rue and Mytho happy together! I want to be a ballerina and become a beautiful dancer like Rue and Mytho and Fakir and Princess Tutu! I want to see and talk to Fakir! I want to see him smile and call me a moron! I-I want to tell him so much!"

Sylvie nodded. "Fight for those you care about and the one you love."

"FAKIR!" she wailed.

~X~*~X~

Fakir heard her cry. They all did. The teen was the first to race towards the mirror. He rested a hand on it. "Ahiru!" he shouted. Rue and Mytho quickly followed. The image of the crying girl appeared on it. They heard her wishes echo out to them and they touched the three's hearts.

"Get me the paper!" Fakir shouted quickly. "Get me something to right with! I don't care if I have to use my own blood! HURRY!"

Mytho and Rue were first to race out. Somehow, they found sheets and the quill. Fakir reopened the wound on the back of his hand he had obtained from fighting the demon and used his blood as ink. Akin to his ancestor, the young man wrote using his own blood, however—unlike Drosselmeyer—Fakir was writing to save someone from despair.

~X~*~X~

Ahiru listened to the call of encouragement from her friends and the wonderful words that rolled and waved in her ears of the story to retrieve her. Ahiru rose and looked up as a bright light fell down into the dim room, brightening it up. Ahiru looked up and reached upwards, a grateful smile crossing her lips.

She turned towards Sylvie and grabbed her. "You're coming too!" she exclaimed.

Sylvie didn't answer and didn't fight. The light brought them upwards and out of the mirror. Her vision went dark for a minute. When she felt something warm wrapped around her, she opened her eyes. She looked up at the person holding her and smiled. "Fakir," she said but it came out as more of a quack. _I'm still a duck_, she realized.

She looked up at him and he gave her a warm smile. The duck was nearly surprised that there were tears in his eyes. A new pair of hands grabbed the duck and Rue and Mytho's faces filled her vision, both showing the same happy and tearful faces. "Welcome back," Mytho said.

Ahiru looked at them all and a small smile etched itself on her beak. Then she quacked, remembering Sylvie.

There, floating next to them was the translucent figure of Sylvie. She smiled at them all. "I'm glad that everything has ended this way," she said. "My time here won't last too long, so I have a few last requests."

"Of course," Mytho nodded.

Sylvie looked at the mirror. "Destroy the mirror and make some good use of it." Then she looked towards Fakir. "Be sure that you don't cheat you and her of a happy ending."

Fakir nodded. "That was my plan," he answered simply.

Sylvie then smiled. "I thank you all for being with me," she said, "even if you can't really call me a friend, I am grateful for the short time I've spent with you all. Rue and Mytho, thank you for showing me the light and thank you Ahiru for trying to talk to me and thank you Fakir for allowing me to somehow help." Suddenly, her figure began to grow fainter.

"Are you sure that you can't stay?" Ahiru wanted to say that but it only came out as a rapid set of quacks.

Sylvie, however, was able to get the gist of what Ahiru wanted to say. She nodded. "I'm grateful. Thank you all." With that, Sylvie closed her eyes and she faded in a sparkle of red.

The four were left in silence for several minutes. Then, it was broken by steps. Ahiru and Rue watched as the two boys pushed the mirror over. It shattered in a shower of pieces and remained like that.

The girl and duck looked at the boys. Fakir took the duck from Rue and they all exited the room and then left the castle.

~X~*~X~

Drosselmeyer sat in his chair, stunned. Once again, his tragedy was adverted. One would have thought he would have been angry but he was far from that. He was bemused. "Maybe this old writer needs a rest," he said, sitting back in his rocking chair. He then got up, reaching for a cup of tea. "I wonder if there was a fourth writer in this?" The old writer hummed to himself.

There was no point in continuing trying to write a tragedy here. He looked towards the other story that he had been working on until Ahiru destroyed his writing machine. The same thing probably would happen with this story, he decided.

"I think I should just appreciate other tragedies," he mused. He then walked down the gears and disappeared into the darkness and into time itself.

~X~*~X~

Final farewells were given and before they knew it, Fakir and Ahiru were in the same scenario as they were less than two months before. It felt odd, as if nothing had happened. Ahiru remained a duck and Fakir began thinking of a way to bring her back. The teen looked down at his notes by the lakeside.

Suddenly, Autor and Corina were next to him. Both looked over his shoulder. "What's that for?" asked Corina.

"Still trying to turn Ahiru back into a girl?" inquired Autor, slightly bored.

"The duck is Ahiru?" Corina asked, turning her gaze to the duck staring at them curiously. Corina looked back over at Fakir's notes.

"What are you two doing here anyway?" Fakir asked in a low voice. They were distracting him.

"Just curious," Autor answered simply.

Corina suddenly took the page that Fakir was studying from him. She ignored the writer's demands to give it back. "Everything is too elaborate," she said, finally.

The two boys looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?" asked Autor.

Corina handed back the sheet of paper. "I've been learning to study the arc of how literature works from Autor and you're trying to write a _whole new story_. Why don't you just try to write it like an ending?" she suggested.

"Oh, what do you know?" Autor demanded.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Fakir said, turning back to his paper. Simplistic, maybe that's what he needed.

The two stayed, waiting for Fakir to finish writing his story. He handed it to Autor and Corina read over his shoulder. Autor made a face.

"It's too cheesy," he noted.

"I like it," Corina answered. "It's better than half the gloom and doom in a lot of the stories that Autor makes me read."

Fakir nodded. It would be a short while before his story would become reality but he was satisfied with knowing that. He laid the quill and stared up at the sky and closed his eyes, listening to Autor and Corina argue about something that he didn't care about.

~X~*~X~

_Once upon a time, there was a duck that became a girl to help a heartless prince to gather the pieces of his heart. A raven princess and a useless knight stood in her way but the duck-girl got through it. Soon, the four realized that they were trapped in a story and so they fought the pen to gain their happy ending, leaving the duck-girl a duck and in the company of the useless knight who took up a pen to bring her human form back._

_Months pass and a shattered mirror called back all four friends to fight the demon's lackey, a wandering knight-girl. The knight-girl eventually saw the errors in her way and gave her life to save the duck-girl as she gathered the last of the shattered mirror. In a desperate fight against the demon, the duck-girl continued fighting, even when all hope seemed lost, earning them all a happy ending but she once again became a duck in the useless knight's company._

_Time passed and the shattered mirror's magic reformed it into a pendant of magical qualities. It necklace was found by a thief before it wandered it's way into the hands of a peddler, who sold it to the knight, claiming that it would grant a wish to a pure heart. The knight brought the pendant to the duck and placed it around her neck, wishing that she'd take the form that would make her the happiest. In a flash of light, the duck turned into a girl. The knight and duck-girl were happy of her new form and they danced into the night a wonderful pas de deux that revealed feelings that they didn't even know existed: a deep love and a want to never part._

_And so, they never did._

**The Final Act: The End.**

**Princess Tutu: Hour of the Swan: Fin.**


End file.
